tax

Today, St. Louis activists who have regularly protested Peabody Energy with high-profile rallies are pushing forward with a new kind of action against the corporation — one that they say has not been tried before in the city.

Tomorrow is the deadline for a group trying to repeal a tax cut on oil companies.

Yes Repeal the Giveaway need* at least 30,000 verified signatures to get a referendum on the August primary ballot. So far, over 45,000 people have signed the petition booklets.

“It’s exceeded my expectations.”

nitiative promoter Tim Eyman filed a ballot measure Wednesday to make all tax hikes passed by the Washington state Legislature expire after a year.

Under the initiative, the one-year limit would go away if state lawmakers pass a constitutional amendment to require a legislative supermajority to raise taxes and eliminate tax breaks. If passed by the Legislature by a two-thirds majority in each chamber, the amendment would need a simple majority of voters to be enacted.

Petty Petition Preventing

Tue, Dec 1 2009 by Staff

Richard Winger at Ballot Access News uses a situation in Maine to make a great point about the many and often absurd reasons that petition signatures can be challenged around the country:

Voters in Oakland overwhelmingly approved the nation’s first tax on medical marijuana that is sold ad city cannabis clubs. The new tax rate will be $18 out of every $1,000 in sales at the clubs, generating nearly $300,000 in revenue for the city.

 

Read the article from the Associated Press on Google News

This weekend Paul Jacob spoke at the National Taxpayer Union’s National Taxpayers Conference about the power of the initiative and referendum (I&R) process.

Paul’s main comments focused on how regular grassroots activists can set the agenda and gain momentum on their issues by using I&R. He also makes the point that I&R has been a taxpayer’s best friend, as ballot measures have helped control government spending.

Watch a clip of Paul’s speech:

A development tax that Washington County voters overwhelmingly approved in November might fall victim — temporarily — to the economic downturn.

The tax would pay for road and transit improvements around the county, aiming to relieve congestion caused by new development. Currently developers pay a traffic-impact fee that covers 14percent of those costs, while the public covers the rest. Under the new transportation-development tax, developers would pay roughly 28percent of future costs.

A union that is sponsoring two Las Vegas ballot measures has asked the state Supreme Court to hear its case to place the measures on the June ballot. The city council had refused to put the measures on the ballot, claiming they were unconstitutional. A county judge agreed with the council. The measures aim to require a vote on taxpayer funded development projects and block a proposed city hall project.

Read the story from the Las Vegas Review-Journal

Fargo, ND city commissioners approved a ballot measure that would raise the city’s sales tax by a half-cent to 7%. The money would go to flood protection measures. Citizens will vote on the measure in a June 30 special election.

Read the story from the Forum of Fargo-Moorhead

The Minnesota House on Saturday got behind $1.5 billion in assorted tax increases affecting smokers, drinkers, homeowners, high-end income earners and others. The vote was 68-65, with all Republicans and some Democrats in opposition.

The weekend debate occurred a day after the state Senate narrowly voted to boost taxes by $2.2 billion, mainly through the income tax. Both House and Senate bills are running headlong into Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s promise to veto any tax increase that reaches him.

When Californians vote in the May 19 special election, the state budget will hang in the balance.

That fragile compromise Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger crafted with Democratic lawmakers and a handful of legislators from his own party a couple of months ago didn’t erase all the $40 billion of red ink that threatened to shut down Sacramento.

Read the rest of the story from the North County Times

California lawmakers are warning that the state’s budget deficit could exceed $15billion if several budget related ballot measures fail at an upcoming special election. Six measures that include tax increases and spending cuts are going before voters in a May 19 special election.

Read the story from California Healthline

A legislative committee has been hearing testimony today on a citizen initiative seeking to cut Maine’s car excise tax in half.  The excise tax, which varies depending on the age and the value of a car, is collected locally.  The proposal also calls for eliminating the 5 percent sales tax and the first three years of car excise taxes on certain fuel-efficient vehicles.

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Agusta County residents are petition the Board of Supervisors to relieve new tax assesments, some of which have gone up as much as 400 percent. Petition organizers say that if county supervisors ignore their petition they will take the matter to court.

Read the story from WHSV

The Missouri Legislature is considering rewriting parts of a voter-approved ballot measure on casinos in order to distribute money generated for public education. The ballot measure, passed by voters last year, created new taxes on casinos but did not provide a proper method to distribute those tax dollars to Missouri schools. Lawmakers have come up with varying proposals on what to do with the money.

Read the story from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch