Committee hears bill to end state sales tax on cable, community-antenna television services

The House Committee on Taxation heard House Bill 2013, which would discontinue the state imposition of sales tax on cable, community antenna and other television services.

The bill's reviser said the measure strikes the statutory language in KSA 79-3603 that currently imposes sales tax on those television services. The Department of Revenue told the committee the change would reduce total state revenues by about $84 million in fiscal year 2026, including an estimated $68.9 million loss to the state general fund and about $15.1 million to the State Highway Fund; the department estimated larger impacts in subsequent years.

Reviser Adam Sievers of the Revisor's Office summarized the drafting change as removing the statutory imposition rather than creating a standard sales-tax exemption. Department of Revenue official Kathleen Smith said the department used NAICS-coded collections to develop its estimate and can, on request, break out impacts by NAICS when there are sufficient filers in a code.

Dayton Murti, senior manager of government affairs for Charter Communications (Spectrum), testified in support. He said Charter provides cable video, broadband, voice and mobile services to about 118,000 Kansans and that the company invested more than $37 million last year to expand broadband to roughly 3,000 additional homes and small businesses. Murti argued the bill would “level that playing field” because streaming competitors are not currently subject to the sales tax that applies to traditional cable video. He also testified the change would save Spectrum customers about $5.1 million and noted that, in some communities, the company’s total customer tax burden can exceed 17 percent after local taxes and franchise fees.

Local-government groups testified in opposition. Mike Taylor, representing the Kansas County Commissioners Association, said the association opposes the bill as written because removing the state imposition effectively preempts the local portion of voter-approved sales taxes in many communities. Taylor urged the committee to adopt an approach used previously for groceries: set the state rate for the service to 0 percent while leaving local rates intact so municipalities and counties would continue to collect voter-approved local revenue. Spencer Duncan, government affairs director for the League of Kansas Municipalities, made similar points and urged lawmakers to consider the cumulative erosion of sales-tax bases over time.

Committee members asked whether removing the statutory imposition would eliminate local tax authority; the reviser confirmed the state imposition statute flows to locals and therefore the bill would affect local sales tax collections unless the language is changed. Members also questioned the fiscal estimate and asked the department and proponents to work with the committee if the bill moves forward.

The committee received one in-person proponent (Charter) and several local-government opponents. The hearing closed with no final action taken on the bill.