The Rundown with Kansas Legislative Division of Post Audit

Developmental education courses are for college students who are not academically prepared to complete regular college-level work. A little more than 11,000 Kansas high school graduates enrolled in at least one developmental education course in 2020. We surveyed high school and post-secondary teachers and staff to collect their opinions on how significant several factors are in a student's need to take a developmental education course. Nearly two-thirds of post-secondary survey respondents reported that the length of time a student has been out of high school is a significant factor in the need for developmental education courses. Additionally, about two-thirds of high school respondents reported that a lack of educational support at home and a lack of course mastery are significant factors in students not being prepared for college. Other stakeholders we talked with reported that a lack of appropriate coursework in high school is an important factor in the need for developmental courses. Last, survey respondents and stakeholders reported several strategies to reduce the need for developmental education courses including requiring skills mastery in high school and providing additional educational supports.

We couldn't determine the effect of taxes or exemptions on competition between government, non-profit, and for-profit businesses because of data limitations. Research on competition between those 3 sectors in the United States is limited and much of it is dated. The 4 research studies we reviewed found that although some businesses may appear similar, slight differences in services or location can affect the level of any competition. Additionally, the research shows government and non-profit businesses have some advantages over for-profit businesses, but the effect on for-profit business is unclear. We also looked at differences in statutory tax rates in 3 industries in Kansas because they operate in close proximity and may offer similar services in many parts of the state. In Kansas, for-profit fitness centers, daycare centers, and mental health centers generally pay taxes that similar government and non-profit businesses do not pay. But we couldn’t determine how these differences in taxes or exemptions effect competition in Kansas because of data issues and time constraints.

In 2016, the Legislature passed a law requiring a performance-based budget system. The system was supposed to be implemented in 3 phases--a program inventory (due January 9, 2017), an integrated budget fiscal process (due January 6, 2018), and a performance-based budget system (due January 14, 2019). We reviewed whether the system was adequately implemented as outlined in state law, and whether state agencies provided complete, accurate, and reliable information.
For the first question, we found the Division of the Budget generally met the basic requirements in state law. But the performance-based budget system doesn’t seem to have changed the way the state makes budgeting decisions. That’s partly because statute is very general and allows a lot of discretion.
For the second question, we found that most of the 79 state agencies we reviewed submitted the required information to Budget. We evaluated the quality of the program inventories and performance measures that 7 of those agencies provided. 5 of the 7 agencies’ program inventories didn’t include all required information. 1 agency only had output measures (no outcome measures). And 3 agencies’ performance measures had significant accuracy or reliability issues.

We couldn't determine the effect of taxes or exemptions on competition between government, non-profit, and for-profit businesses because of data limitations. Research on competition between those 3 sectors in the United States is limited and much of it is dated. The 4 research studies we reviewed found that although some businesses may appear similar, slight differences in services or location can affect the level of any competition. Additionally, the research shows government and non-profit businesses have some advantages over for-profit businesses, but the effect on for-profit business is unclear. We also looked at differences in statutory tax rates in 3 industries in Kansas because they operate in close proximity and may offer similar services in many parts of the state. In Kansas, for-profit fitness centers, daycare centers, and mental health centers generally pay taxes that similar government and non-profit businesses do not pay. But we couldn’t determine how these differences in taxes or exemptions effect competition in Kansas because of data issues and time constraints.

The estimated revenues of the Council Grove site of Butler County Community College were about $11,000 less than its estimated expenditures. Butler County Community College (BCCC) operates a site in Council Grove that serves about 200 students. In fiscal year 2019, the estimated revenues for the Council Grove site were about $11,000 less than its estimated expenditures. In fiscal year 2019, the estimated expenditures of the Council Grove site were about $158,000. In fiscal year 2019, the Council Grove site generated about $147,000 in revenues from state aid and student tuition and fees. State Aid has not been paid according to Regents’ formula in recent years, which could explain why the Council Grove site operated at a deficit in fiscal year 2019. Because state aid hasn’t been paid according to Regents’ formula, it’s possible that property tax may have supported the Council Grove site but we couldn’t tell.