Shawnee city council to discuss temporary lift of excise tax

SHAWNEE, Kan. - The Kansas Legislature recently passed a law that prevents any local government from imposing a new excise tax. At least one Shawnee City official says Shawnee needs to be open for business.

"I don't think we were as aggressive that we could have been on development, or I think the perception is that Shawnee wasn't concerned with commercial development or development, and we are," said council member Jeff Vaught.

The excise tax charges developers per square foot on property that they would like to develop in Shawnee. Vaught said suspending the tax will spur economic development.

"If it's a commercial development, when it's done, you're going to have jobs. If it's an industrial development, you're going to have warehouse jobs distribution or whatever it is, and if it's retail, you're going to have an additional sales tax dollars on it that you're going to bring to the city," Vaught said.