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<DIV><FONT size=2>Judy,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>Thank you for your comment.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>I really support mandatory analyses and reporting that show
what every one of the state tax exemptions cost in lost revenue. If these
numbers were available, I believe that the public would more vigorously signal
their legislators to do something more balanced.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>As long as politicians rely on impossible to prove
political/social/religious ideology to support their decisions instead of
probabilities of consequences of actions, we will never have any where near a
balanced tax system.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>And as bad as the unbalanced state tax exemptions are,
the federal tax system with its hundreds of thousands of exemptions is much
worse. All of us ordinary citizens are financing much for which we receive
little or nothing in benefit, but special groups/people reap billions by not
having to pay taxes the rest of us have to make up.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>I suspect that Representative Trail will have a difficult time
persuading his fellow legislators that now is the time to reveal to the citizens
what each and every exemption is costing them. I believe the reason for
this is that many legislators do not want the public to have this information
because it will lead to the severe mutilation of some very sacred
cows.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>Wayne A. Fox<BR>1009 Karen Lane<BR>PO Box 9421<BR>Moscow,
ID 83843</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2><A href="mailto:waf@moscow.com">waf@moscow.com</A><BR>208
882-7975</FONT></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"
dir=ltr>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="FONT: 10pt arial; BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=jlbrown@turbonet.com href="mailto:jlbrown@turbonet.com">JLBrown</A>
</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=deco@moscow.com
href="mailto:deco@moscow.com">'Art Deco'</A> ; <A title=ttrail@moscow.com
href="mailto:ttrail@moscow.com">ttrail@moscow.com</A> ; <A
title=vision2020@moscow.com href="mailto:vision2020@moscow.com">'Vision
2020'</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Wednesday, January 06, 2010 1:37
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> RE: [Vision2020] pre-legislative
newsletter from Rep. Tom Trail</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV class=Section1>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-SIZE: 11pt">Wayne
and Visionaries,<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-SIZE: 11pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 429.75pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-SIZE: 11pt">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.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 429.75pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-SIZE: 11pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 429.75pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-SIZE: 11pt">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.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 429.75pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-SIZE: 11pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 429.75pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-SIZE: 11pt">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.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 429.75pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-SIZE: 11pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 429.75pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-SIZE: 11pt">I
hope the 2010 legislature will take these issues seriously. We’ll
see.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 429.75pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-SIZE: 11pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 429.75pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-SIZE: 11pt">Judy<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-SIZE: 11pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<DIV>
<DIV
style="BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; PADDING-LEFT: 0in; PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; BORDER-TOP: #b5c4df 1pt solid; BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; PADDING-TOP: 3pt">
<P class=MsoNormal><B><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">From:</SPAN></B><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">
vision2020-bounces@moscow.com [mailto:vision2020-bounces@moscow.com] <B>On
Behalf Of </B>Art Deco<BR><B>Sent:</B> Wednesday, January 06, 2010 12:28
PM<BR><B>To:</B> ttrail@moscow.com; Vision 2020<BR><B>Subject:</B> Re:
[Vision2020] pre-legislative newsletter from Rep. Tom
Trail<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P></DIV></DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Tom,</SPAN><o:p></o:p></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Thank you for the
outline.</SPAN><o:p></o:p></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">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.
</SPAN><o:p></o:p></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">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.</SPAN><o:p></o:p></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Wayne A. Fox<BR>1009 Karen
Lane<BR>PO Box 9421<BR>Moscow, ID 83843</SPAN><o:p></o:p></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt"><A
href="mailto:waf@moscow.com">waf@moscow.com</A><BR>208
882-7975</SPAN><o:p></o:p></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></P></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; BORDER-LEFT: black 1.5pt solid; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; MARGIN: 5pt 0in 5pt 3.75pt; PADDING-LEFT: 4pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; BORDER-TOP: medium none; BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; PADDING-TOP: 0in">
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">----- Original
Message ----- <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4" class=MsoNormal><B><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">From:</SPAN></B><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"> <A
title=ttrail@moscow.com href="mailto:ttrail@moscow.com">Rep. Tom Trail</A>
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><B><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">To:</SPAN></B><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"> <A
title=vision2020@moscow.com
href="mailto:vision2020@moscow.com">vision2020@moscow.com</A>
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><B><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Sent:</SPAN></B><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"> Wednesday,
January 06, 2010 11:57 AM<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><B><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Subject:</SPAN></B><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"> [Vision2020]
pre-legislative newsletter from Rep. Tom Trail<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P></DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal>PRE-LEGISLATIVE NEWSLETTER--IDAHO LEGISLATURE
2010<BR><BR>Constituents:<BR><BR>The Idaho Legislature will open on January
11th. The Economy will<BR>dominate what takes place this
session. Idaho faces a $151 million<BR>deficit as of July 1st.
Agencies cut 4% from their budgets, but still<BR>have a $50 hole. The
Governor will outline his plans on January 11th.<BR>Further reductions in
state agency spending and consolidating some agency<BR>programs may be some
of the options that he will talk about.<BR><BR> 1. Budget and
Taxes -- There are basically four ways to balance the<BR>budget or a
combination of some of these options.<BR><BR>
a. Cut agency budgets and programs -- this appears to be the
option<BR>that the Governor will select. Public education and
Higher<BR>Education will no doubt see further reductions. This would
be one<BR>of the few times that public education would suffer a cut.
Many<BR>quality programs from our universities and colleges will have to
be<BR>eliminated. Outstanding faculty have already left the University
of<BR>Idaho seeking more stable conditions. Further cuts in Medicaid
may<BR>occur. One has to ask the question at what point do we allow
the<BR>quality of our educational programs not to further go
downhill.<BR><BR> b. Examine Our Tax
Exemption System -- To date we have 75 tax tax<BR>exemptions which total up
to be about $1.8 billion/year. Each<BR>exemption benefits in general a small
group of citizens or an<BR>organization. The money from the exemption
does not flow into the<BR>state general fund but, in fact, can be viewed as
a cost to those<BR>taxpayers not benefiting from the
exemption.<BR><BR> A
tax exemption is granted by the State on the basis that it<BR>will be a
benefit to the State. However, to date no system has<BR>been set up to
require the beneficiaries of an exemption to come<BR>before the Legislature
to present in a transparent and accountable way to<BR>prove the exemption's
value to the State. If an exemption was found not<BR>to be beneficial
to the State then the funds could flow to the State<BR>general fund and be
used for priority programs. I am working with several<BR>legislators
who will be proposing that we Sunset all 75 exemptions and set<BR>up a
system to evaluate all 75 exemptions on a timely
basis.<BR><BR> c. Go After Those Who
Have Not Paid Their Taxes -- The Office of<BR>Performance Evaluation
estimates that about $300 million in taxes go<BR>unpaid each
year. The IRS reports the figure to be about $350 million.<BR>Governor
Phil Batt approved hiring additional auditors back in 1996<BR>and the
returns were about one to ten. Six years the state spent<BR>$900,000
on auditors and got back $12 million. The Tax Commission in<BR>November
outlined a strategy--with $10 million to hire 164 auditors<BR>the return
would be about $65 million--more than enough to close<BR>budget gap.
This is an initiative that I can strongly
support.<BR><BR> d. Raise Taxes
-- This will not be a popular idea among many<BR>legislators; however,
the evidence appears that the blood-letting<BR>with a series of budget cuts
already experienced by public<BR>education, higher education, and other
programs has caused<BR>irreversible damage-- then all options should be on
the table.<BR><BR> Tax
cuts for corporations are being advocated by some
Republican<BR>legislators. I'm opposed to this legislative
initiative. Idaho<BR>has a very poor track record in granting tax
breaks to lure big<BR>corporations into the state or not to move out of the
state. The case of<BR>Micron and Albertson stand out as key
examples. Cash strapped<BR>communities across the country have a
message for corporations that<BR>promised jobs in return for big tax
breaks. Many corporations and<BR>businesses that were granted tax
abatements and other incentives simply<BR>did not deliver the promised
number of jobs and other economic<BR>enhancements. The newfound
strength comes as states that have long bent<BR>over backward to lure
companies and jobs to the tune of $60 billion/year. <BR>Agreements are now
being written that will take<BR>away the property tax break or a portion of
it if the company<BR>does not keep its promise or commitment.<BR><BR>
2. Other--There will be many other specific legislative
endeavors and<BR>issues that will emerge during the session, but the economy
is the<BR>dominating theme at this time. Idaho's unemployment
rate is about 10%<BR>and this doesn't include those whose benefits have
already run out.<BR>Idaho has paid out as much as $16 million/week in terms
of unemployment<BR>benefits.<BR><BR>Please send me your comments and
suggestions to Rep. Tom Trail<BR><BR>e-mail:
<A
href="mailto:ttrail@house.idaho.gov">ttrail@house.idaho.gov</A><BR><BR>Rep.
Tom
Trail<BR><BR><BR>=======================================================<BR> List
services made available by First Step Internet, <BR> serving the
communities of the Palouse since 1994.
<BR>
<A
href="http://www.fsr.net">http://www.fsr.net</A>
<BR> <A
href="mailto:Vision2020@moscow.com">mailto:Vision2020@moscow.com</A><BR>=======================================================<o:p></o:p></P></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>