[Vision2020] pre-legislative newsletter from Rep. Tom Trail

Donovan Arnold donovanjarnold2008 at yahoo.com
Fri Jan 8 06:46:18 PST 2010


 JLB writes,
 
"Unfortunately, reducing local property tax exemptions such as those for charities and other non-profits is not going to help the state’s fiscal situation.  The property tax is entirely a local tax and none of those revenues goes to the state."
 
Not true, if local governments raised revenue, that means the state could cut funding to those local governments to make up for the short fall. However, I don't think taxing churches and non-profits would raise revenue, it would just cause them to disappear. People they served would become more dependent on government assistance for food, clothing, medical, shelter and social support. But a temporary ceasing of tax exemptions on for profit businesses could generate some new monies.
 
I am not for added income tax because it hurts the working classes. We already pay half our income in taxes and fees to the government in one way or another. 
 
People that work don't get nothing from the government except a bill and a nasty letter from the IRS. We don't get benefits, we don't get reduced rent, we don't even get our laundry folded or lawn mowed by the people that we keep paying 50% of our income to.
 
I tell ya, I have a half a mind to lose my job and just collect from the other workers. There is so much disinsentive to work in this country it is no wonder the unemployment is as high as it is. 
 
The legislature needs to go after the tax dodgers and not after those of us that are already paying our share. 
 
Your Friend,
 
Donovan Arnold
 
 


--- On Wed, 1/6/10, JLBrown <jlbrown at turbonet.com> wrote:


From: JLBrown <jlbrown at turbonet.com>
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] pre-legislative newsletter from Rep. Tom Trail
To: "'Art Deco'" <deco at moscow.com>, ttrail at moscow.com, "'Vision 2020'" <vision2020 at moscow.com>
Date: Wednesday, January 6, 2010, 9:37 PM








Wayne and Visionaries,
 
I like your idea of a reporting requirement showing how much property tax exemptions cost local tax districts—and how much they boost our individual property tax bills.  Unfortunately, reducing local property tax exemptions such as those for charities and other non-profits is not going to help the state’s fiscal situation.  The property tax is entirely a local tax and none of those revenues goes to the state.
 
Re-examining the 75 exemptions in the state tax code also makes sense, and should have been done a long time ago.  The idea has been around at least since 2003, with strong opposition from the House leadership, which is supposed to start tax policy.  Furthermore, the bulk of those exemptions are sales tax exemptions on services, so closing those exemptions basically means raising the sales taxes that you and I pay when we have our car serviced or call a plumber—not a great idea during a recession.  The Governor has also emphatically said that taxing services is not going to happen on his watch.
 
Idaho is in a dire situation and could do long-lasting damage to public and higher education—cuts that could hurt our young people, the state’s economic future, and this county in particular for a long time to come.  What is needed is a temporary revenue boost, something that can generate some dollars quickly without burdening those struggling with un-and under-employment.  The best way to do that is through the income tax, and that is why Rep. Ringo and I have proposed a modest temporary income tax surcharge for the next two years or so while the recovery gathers steam.
 
I hope the 2010 legislature will take these issues seriously.  We’ll see.
 
Judy
 


From: vision2020-bounces at moscow.com [mailto:vision2020-bounces at moscow.com] On Behalf Of Art Deco
Sent: Wednesday, January 06, 2010 12:28 PM
To: ttrail at moscow.com; Vision 2020
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] pre-legislative newsletter from Rep. Tom Trail
 

Tom,

 

Thank you for the outline.

 

I especially laud your analysis of tax exemptions.  I think we need to impose assessing/reporting requirements on county tax assessors so that we can know exactly how much each exemption is reducing the money otherwise available with respect to property and other taxes assessed by the county.  

 

I especially endorse the idea that the cost to taxpayers of the exemptions to non-profits, many of which are not charities (and some of the charities are more employment opportunities for fund raisers than charities) be calculated and reported along with a calculation showing each taxpayer how much their tax bills would be reduced if non-profits were taxed.

 

Wayne A. Fox
1009 Karen Lane
PO Box 9421
Moscow, ID  83843

 

waf at moscow.com
208 882-7975

 


----- Original Message ----- 

From: Rep. Tom Trail 

To: vision2020 at moscow.com 

Sent: Wednesday, January 06, 2010 11:57 AM

Subject: [Vision2020] pre-legislative newsletter from Rep. Tom Trail

 
PRE-LEGISLATIVE NEWSLETTER--IDAHO LEGISLATURE 2010

Constituents:

The Idaho Legislature will open on January 11th.  The Economy will
dominate what takes place this session.  Idaho faces a $151 million
deficit as of July 1st.  Agencies cut 4% from their budgets, but still
have a $50 hole.  The Governor will outline his plans on January 11th.
Further reductions in state agency spending and consolidating some agency
programs may be some of the options that he will talk about.

  1.  Budget and Taxes -- There are basically four ways to balance the
budget or a combination of some of these options.

      a.  Cut agency budgets and programs -- this appears to be the option
that the Governor will select.  Public education and Higher
Education will no doubt see further reductions.  This would be one
of the few times that public education would suffer a cut. Many
quality programs from our universities and colleges will have to be
eliminated.  Outstanding faculty have already left the University of
Idaho seeking more stable conditions.  Further cuts in Medicaid may
occur.  One has to ask the question at what point do we allow the
quality of our educational programs not to further go downhill.

      b.  Examine Our Tax Exemption System -- To date we have 75 tax tax
exemptions which total up to be about $1.8 billion/year. Each
exemption benefits in general a small group of citizens or an
organization.  The money from the exemption does not flow into the
state general fund but, in fact, can be viewed as a cost to those
taxpayers not benefiting from the exemption.

          A tax exemption is granted by the State on the basis that it
will be a benefit to the State.  However, to date no system has
been set up to require the beneficiaries of an exemption to come
before the Legislature to present in a transparent and accountable way to
prove the exemption's value to the State.  If an exemption was found not
to be beneficial to the State then the funds could flow to the State
general fund and be used for priority programs.  I am working with several
legislators who will be proposing that we Sunset all 75 exemptions and set
up a system to evaluate all 75 exemptions on a timely basis.

      c.  Go After Those Who Have Not Paid Their Taxes -- The Office of
Performance Evaluation estimates that about $300 million in taxes  go
unpaid each year.  The IRS reports the figure to be about $350 million..
Governor Phil Batt approved hiring additional auditors back in 1996
and the returns were about one to ten.  Six years the state spent
$900,000 on auditors and got back $12 million. The Tax Commission in
November outlined a strategy--with $10 million to hire 164 auditors
the return would be about $65 million--more than enough to close
budget gap.  This is an initiative that I can strongly support.

      d.  Raise Taxes  --  This will not be a popular idea among many
legislators; however, the evidence appears that the blood-letting
with a series of budget cuts already experienced by public
education, higher education, and other programs has caused
irreversible damage-- then all options should be on the table.

          Tax cuts for corporations are being advocated by some Republican
legislators.  I'm opposed to this legislative initiative.  Idaho
has a very poor track record in granting tax breaks to lure big
corporations into the state or not to move out of the state. The case of
Micron and Albertson stand out as key examples.   Cash strapped
communities across the country have a message for corporations that
promised jobs in return for big tax breaks.  Many corporations and
businesses that were granted tax abatements and other incentives simply
did not deliver the promised number of jobs and other economic
enhancements.  The newfound strength comes as states that have long bent
over backward to lure companies and jobs to the tune of $60 billion/year. 
Agreements are now being written that will take
away the property tax break or a portion of it if the company
does not keep its promise or commitment.

  2.   Other--There will be many other specific legislative endeavors and
issues that will emerge during the session, but the economy is the
dominating theme at this time.   Idaho's unemployment rate is about 10%
and this doesn't include those whose benefits have already run out.
Idaho has paid out as much as $16 million/week in terms of unemployment
benefits.

Please send me your comments and suggestions to Rep. Tom Trail

e-mail:      ttrail at house.idaho.gov

Rep. Tom Trail


=======================================================
 List services made available by First Step Internet, 
 serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.   
               http://www.fsr.net                       
          mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
=======================================================
-----Inline Attachment Follows-----


=======================================================
List services made available by First Step Internet, 
serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.   
               http://www.fsr.net                       
          mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
=======================================================


      
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/vision2020/attachments/20100108/ffb9095a/attachment-0001.html 


More information about the Vision2020 mailing list