Full Verbatim Transcript: Crawford County Republican Gubernatorial Forum
FULL VERBATIM TRANSCRIPT – CANDIDATE Q&A
Crawford County Republican Gubernatorial Forum
Saturday, April 25, 2026 | Pittsburg Memorial Auditorium, Pittsburg, Kansas
Recorded and Transcribed by Philip Stevens, Hometown Girard
Editor’s note: This is the full question-and-answer transcript from the Crawford County Republican gubernatorial candidate forum. Minor verbal fillers may be removed for readability. Responses otherwise appear as spoken.
PROPERTY TAX
Question:
“The weight of increased property taxes due to local spending and state-required education levies are becoming an unsustainable burden on the people. Multiple property tax reform efforts were proposed this year, but none secured enough votes to override a Laura Kelly veto. What is your solution to getting property taxes under control?”
Stacy Rogers
“Okay, so I was hoping I’d get this question first. I’ve been talking about this a lot throughout the state, and quite frankly, we clearly are on an unsustainable path due to there’s a lot of blame game going on. We got the state blaming the counties, the counties are blaming the state, and back and forth, and there’s a little bit of fault on both sides, but the fact is we have things that have occurred on the state level that make it difficult for the counties to not raise the taxes, and that is the overuse of STAR bonds, that is the removal of LAVTR, and that is unfunded mandates. And unfunded mandates get piled on more and more every year, and costs are rising.
So, we are reaching a critical level where we’re going to have to make some tough decisions, and one of the things that I have talked to people across the state about is separating property from the local budgets and funding those budgets a different way. And there are several proposals that I’m looking at and investigating now. Some are long-term, some are short-term. I think it’ll take a combination of both to give the relief that we need, but it will take care of unfunded mandates, it’ll take care of at least 20 mils of the property tax, and it will really give the homeowner, the property owner, the ability to not feel penalized for taking care of their property.
And I hear that throughout the state. People are junking their properties up in the hopes that their property taxes are not raised, and that should not be occurring. It’s also a natural economic development tool. If we do not have property tax in the state or it’s very low, we will have people coming to the state that automatically demands more industry, more people, more business, and that’s not the entire economic development picture, but it is a good tool to have in our pocket.”
Ty Masterson
“It’s a very complicated problem that has to be tackled. I mentioned it in my opening. It is a crisis in Kansas. If we don’t solve this for our kids and our elderly, we’re going to be in trouble.
But the truth is, there’s not a single person on this stage that can guarantee you a property tax cap without a constitutional amendment. It’s in our Constitution. We have to do it, and the Senate, under my leadership, delivered an amendment three times. And the only way you get real, instant relief, the first amendment we sent, reset your property value square back to 2022, and then impose the cap. That would have been real relief, but it was rejected.
We didn’t get quite enough on that. Just a handful of Republicans sided with Democrats and stopped it on the House side. We sent a weaker version and a weaker version, but every one of them would have given the people’s representatives the right to engage in capping property taxes.
So, it doesn’t matter. There’s nobody up here that can promise you that. It takes a leader, because you’re going to have to develop a supermajority.
But on the flip side of that, you also have to have some type of revenue limit, because the true driver of property tax is spending. And it’s entirely local.
There needs to be a revenue limit on the back side that will not allow for any kind of massive mill levy increases without the consent of the people.”
Joy Eakins
“Well, I think you all know that the biggest failure in Topeka this session was the inability to get something done for property tax. And what is even more flabbergasting is you’ve got the governor pointing at the legislature and the Senate pointing at the House and the appraisers point at the county, and meanwhile Grandma’s over there wondering if she’s going to have to give up the house that they’ve had for five generations because she can’t afford to keep it anymore.
In the last debate in January, I released a property tax reform plan that includes several things, but what it’s about is how do we make the system work for you, not the state?
Nobody was talking about capping at inflation or 3 percent. That was my idea, and they’ve all taken it. So good, I’m glad they are influenced by that idea.
But we’ve already been influencing that process to cap appraisals at that because you shouldn’t be getting these massive appraisal income increases every year.
Second, when you get that number, they just tell you a number, and you’re just to guess what it is. Why don’t they show their work?
Why don’t they tell you where that came from?
It needs to work for the people. It is a difficult problem, but it’s not rocket science.”
Charlotte O’Hara
“I would like to remind everybody that the property tax issue is not a problem in every state. It is a problem in Kansas, and it is the biggest problem in Kansas.
When I go across the state, this is the number one issue everywhere.
Everybody’s getting property tax relief but the men and women of the state of Kansas.
Wind turbines and solar have tax abatements. Data centers have tax abatements.
But the people of Kansas are suffering with these high property taxes.
If we grow the economy, that will help everybody from a property tax standpoint.”
Scott Schwab
“I had my plan back there… it is better affordable living by decreasing property taxes.
If they do want to raise the mill levy, then it goes to a vote of the people in that jurisdiction.
If you want that property tax increase, you can vote for it. If you don’t, you can tell them no.
I would also standardize the appraisal software… because right now the county appraisers can really do whatever they want to do.
So, we need to make sure they’re not manipulating the market but taking a free market approach.”
Philip Sarnecki
“I was in Atwood visiting with a local person, and they were talking to me about property taxes.
Their house, they could never sell it for what the appraisal was, but they were paying taxes on that inflated value.
Here’s why this matters.
Kansas is a high-cost state.
Taxes are a symptom. They’re not the disease. The disease is high spending.
Government is getting too big, and we need a constitutional amendment that addresses both the appraisal and the mill levy side.”
Jeff Colyer
“I was in Atwood a few days ago talking to someone about their property taxes.
Their house, they could never sell it for what their property tax appraisal was on it.
Taxes are a symptom. They’re not the disease. The disease is high spending.
You need a constitutional amendment that addresses both sides.
And you need a governor who leads from the front.”
ENERGY, EMINENT DOMAIN, KCC
Question:
“The Kansas Corporation Commission has given the power of eminent domain to private out-of-state companies… Candidates, do you support increasing the oversight of the Kansas Corporation Commission to include these facilities, reduce local control, and expand the use of eminent domain? If not, how would you address these issues?”
Jeff Colyer
“I think we need to take some of these pieces of this first.
First off, the KCC, the Kansas Corporation Commission, is a commission that has staff, that also sets rates, it controls a lot of the things in the energy pricing sector, because most of our energy comes from some sort of either monopoly or oligopoly.
There are some important pieces that have been taken out of the KCC. It’s a three-member commission. I appointed one of the commissioners for it.
We have a commissioner coming up in March of next year. That’s going to be one of the governor’s first appointments, and it’s an incredibly important appointment for us.
And so, I’m going to make sure that we have, first, a conservative. One that looks after ratepayers, looks after ordinary Kansans, and has some Kansas economic sense.
We’ve got to also look at how the KCC functions, how that staffing works.
People everywhere ask me about data centers.
So, here’s how I look at data centers. Data centers are around. They’re important.
Local community gets to decide.
They’ve got to have adequate electrical generation that does not drive up other people’s rates.
They want to bring their own? Great.
And finally, that water is controlled and that they’re not using our valuable water.”
Stacy Rogers
“So, I am the only candidate that I’m aware of that is talking about a statewide moratorium on all energy projects in this state.
For the reason of making these companies be accountable, transparent, and to tell the truth to these landowners, these municipalities, and these counties about what they’re actually doing within these projects.
I’ve been pulled into more projects than probably—I don’t know—I’ve lost count.
These companies are predatory.
They are not telling the truth.
They are taking advantage of our land.
They want to use up our resources and we’re not getting any benefit of the energy.
The purpose of the moratorium is one, to let the technology catch up.
I’ve spoken with people working on technology where data centers won’t use as much water or energy in the next five years.
We need to make sure companies are telling the truth.
We need to protect our land and protect our resources.
We cannot get it back once it is gone.”
Ty Masterson
“I’ll keep it simple.
No private entity should ever have the power to take eminent domain anybody else’s private property, period.
That is that simple.
You appoint the right people to the KCC.
There needs to be local control in any facility like that.
What the state brings is guardrails.
There need to be general guardrails to make sure it’s not costing the locals another dime in energy costs or using up water.
The AI race is real in the world.
So, we need to find the right places to place them where they’re not at any ill effect.”
Charlotte O’Hara
“Absolutely, I would not give the power of eminent domain to the KCC.
Private individuals, companies having that, absolutely not.
Data centers—repeal SB 98.
They’re getting 20 years of sales tax exemptions.
Repeal the property tax exemptions on green energy.
They need to pay their fair share.
As far as data centers paying property taxes, they’ll get abatements.
At the end of 10 years, they depreciate the building and communities never get the benefit.
So absolutely, repeal the special deals.
Keep eminent domain only on public benefit and by public government.”
Scott Schwab
“How we got here is AI has been created.
Anybody on their phone right now is touching a data center.
It’s either us or China.
Who’s going to control the next forefront of technology?
It cannot be China.
You don’t give property from one right to the next.
You have to allow counties that want data centers to say yes.
In Spring Hill, they want two data centers because they want infrastructure improvements.
With new water regulation, it’s becoming more efficient.
It cannot be a monolith statewide by a three-person panel.
It needs to be local communities.”
Philip Sarnecki
“I think private property owners taking private property from other people is kind of stealing.
Legal stealing.
We don’t have an idea problem.
We have a leadership problem.
People come up to me at every event and give ideas.
Some are good.
But we don’t have a shortage of ideas.
We have people being bought and paid for by special interests.
I would appoint people to the KCC that are pro-family, pro-farm, and pro-property owners.”
Joy Eakins
“Do you support increasing the oversight of the KCC to let them have eminent domain? The answer is clearly no.
Why would we allow an unelected group of people to practice eminent domain on the people of Kansas?
Why would we allow a company that’s never stepped foot in Kansas take land from a family that’s had it for generations?
We have to keep that bar very high.
We need to make sure leaders put Kansans first.”
GROWTH OF GOVERNMENT / BUDGET
Question:
“In the last seven years, Kansas state government employment has grown while population has held steady… As governor, what will your budget priorities be and how can you put our budget in positive territory?”
Charlotte O’Hara
“Too bad we didn’t get SB 254 over the line.
That would have saved $600 million a year.
We need to close the State Department of Education.
Waste and fraud—we’ve already talked about Medicaid and SNAP.
We cannot allow this to go forward because we can’t afford it.
I will look at every line item and say this is it.
We are bloated with middle management.
It’s disgusting.”
Philip Sarnecki
“We have about a $26 billion total budget.
Ten and a half billion of that has been added in the last seven years.
That means if you wonder why your taxes are what they are, it’s because career politicians continue to spend and spend and spend your money.
We are overtaxing, overregulating, and overspending Kansans to death.
We need to cut regulations, reduce taxes, and attract businesses.
We are one of the worst states for new business survival.”
Jeff Colyer
“In the seven years since I was governor, the state budget is up 60 percent.
Are your lives 60 percent better?
We had a $500 million deficit and $800 in the checking account.
We privatized Medicaid, saving a billion dollars a year.
I eliminated 5,500 unnecessary state employees.
A thousand state employees is about $125 million every year.
We tackled fraud.
We will have to do that again.”
Joy Eakins
“We are overregulated.
It takes 1,500 hours to become a barber.
We have the fourth most regulated childcare industry.
If the only way a business survives is government money, that’s not a business, that’s a charity.
We need to change the mindset of government.
Business owners are the good guys.
We need to treat them that way.”
Ty Masterson
“When COVID happened, the federal government dumped billions into Kansas.
A lot of that went into the executive branch.
The way you control a budget is you have to choke the input.
You have to limit revenue, so government has to choose between this or that.
Not this and that.
We’ve reduced taxes—food tax, Social Security tax, property tax.
That’s part of controlling spending.”
Scott Schwab
“As you tell every agency, either reduce, modernize, or both.
Government bloats because they hire more people.
When I came in, we were using outdated systems.
Technology allows you to reduce workforce and improve efficiency.
People then go out and become producers instead of government employees.”
Stacy Rogers
“I’ve said from the beginning we need to take a closer look.
I promise to go line by line and department by department.
There is fraud.
People had unemployment taken out in their name and nothing was done.
We need to know where the money is going before we make cuts.
We also need to stop using poor economic development tools like STAR bonds.”
END OF Q&A TRANSCRIPT