Gage Park tax didn't start Jan. 1 as planned. Kansas and county are pointing fingers.

Your purchases in Shawnee County are 0.2% cheaper than they're supposed to be — but that may not last for long.

Shawnee County voters in November approved a ballot question authorizing a 20-cent sales tax on every $100 spent. The money, estimated at $8 million in revenue a year, will benefit Gage Park, the Topeka Zoo and the Kansas Children's Discovery Center.

But retailers didn't start collecting the tax on Jan. 1 as was intended after a legal snafu in implementing the assessment.

The Topeka Capital-Journal discovered the tax wasn't being collected when the local tax rates remained unchanged in the Kansas Department of Revenue's spreadsheet publication of local tax rates effective Jan. 1.

"We have asked KDOR to update the spreadsheet immediately so that local retailers will start collecting the tax," Shawnee County counselor Jim Crowl said in an email to The Capital-Journal.

Revenue Department officials maintain that state laws mean the tax "increase cannot be any sooner than April 1."

The different interpretations of tax law mean the park, zoo and discovery center will likely miss out on roughly $2 million combined without the sales tax collected the first three months of the year.

It's not just Gage Park, the Topeka Zoo and the Kansas Children's Discovery Center that are affected. The city and county government budgets were also formed around a Jan. 1 implementation. Supporters of the sales tax had indicated its passage would alleviate the property tax burden.

More:Residents love Topeka Zoo, Gage Park. Voters may get a chance to raise taxes to support them.

Legal language creates confusion

As Kansas lawmakers negotiated a massive tax package last session, they added language authorizing Shawnee County to have an election on increasing sales taxes to fund a new Gage Park Improvement Authority. Voters on Nov. 8 approved the countywide sales tax, 62% to 38%.

Shawnee County officials certified the election results later that month and sent the necessary documents to the Revenue Department.

The county expected KDOR would star collection of the sales tax on Jan. 1. Crowl said his office wasn't notified until after Christmas that the state agency was setting April 1 as the implementation date.

"It is KDOR’s responsibility to implement the tax," Crowl said. "KDOR’s interpretation is that the sales tax goes into effect on April 1, instead. We certainly disagree with KDOR’s interpretation, which follows neither the statute nor clear legislative intent."

More:Vote means 'lots of good things on horizon' for Gage Park, Topeka Zoo, Discovery Center

The new Gage Park law states that "the sales tax shall be in effect as of the first day of the year following the election."

Revenue Department officials point to a separate law on collecting new local sales taxes, which sets the start date as the beginning of the next calendar quarter at least 90 days after local officials have notified the state of the election results.

The agency also contends that the date a tax is "in effect" is not the same as when tax collections start.

"The statutes create a different effective date and the date when the tax can be collected and distributed," KDOR said in a statement. "By statute, the collection and distribution cannot start until the first day of a new quarter after the initial 90 days that follow the notice of an election of a tax increase."

Revenue Department officials say discrepancies in the language between existing law and the new law is the source of the confusion.

Crowl contends that KDOR is ignoring language in the new law — "except as otherwise provided in this act" — that is clearly intended to allow the Gage Park tax go into effect Jan. 1 while trumping the general provisions of the other law.

"It is clear that the act intended that the sales tax be 'in effect' January 1," he said.

More:When rain comes, Gage Park mini train suffers washouts. A $129,000 project aims to fix railroad.

Topeka lawmaker sides with county interpretation

Rep. Fred Patton, R-Topeka, sides with Shawnee County's position.

"I don't see what they see," Patton said of the Revenue Department, "and certainly our intent was Jan. 1 — that's why we clearly put it in the bill."

Patton introduced the original bill to authorize the sales tax. He is also a lawyer and president of the board of directors for Friends of the Topeka Zoo.

Patton disputes the Revenue Department's position that a tax being "in effect" does not mean the same thing as collecting the tax.

"I don't get how they're differentiating between those terms," he said. "I mean, how can something be in effect and not be collected and distributed? I don't get it. I think they're arguing over words when there really is no difference in meaning."

Any of the affected entities could conceivably pursue legal action, but Patton said he is not aware of any discussions about filing a lawsuit. He does not anticipate legislative action to address the issue.

He said he ran the Revenue Department's position by the county counselor, the city attorney, the head revisor of statutes and the revisor's office.

"Everyone disagrees with the Department of Revenue," Patton said. "Everyone I've talked to thinks no, it's clear it's Jan. 1."

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Here's why the Gage Park and Topeka Zoo sales tax hasn't started yet