taxes

Some opponents of a Missouri income tax cut say they are weighing whether to pursue a referendum petition that would put the issue before voters.

The Republican-led Legislature enacted the tax cut earlier this month by overriding a veto of Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon. The measure would gradually reduce Missouri’s top individual income tax rate and phase in a new business income deduction starting in 2017, as long as state revenues keep growing.

Read More: here

Washington initiative guru Time Eyman is back in the saddle again with a new anti-tax initiative, filed on Wednesday.

The initiative seeks to curb tax hikes by giving any new taxes a one-year expiration date.  However, Eyman gives Evergreen State legislators an easy way out. Written into the ballot measure is a provision removing the one-year expiration on new taxes IF the legislature passes a constitutional amendment reestablishing a 2/3rds majority vote in order to pass new tax hikes.

Fort Smith city council members are likely to send a new tax on prepared foods to referendum in November in the hopes of ending lawsuits against the city. Citizens petitioned for a referendum after the council approved the tax and have been in court since the spring over rejected petitions.

Regular readers will recall that Trevor Ford and I traveled to Big Spring, TX back in January to help residents of the city obtain justice, and I am now happy to say that a settlement has been reached between the Concerned Citizens Council of Big Spring and the city of Big Spring, TX.

The Portland Press Herald has this brief news story today about the legal challenge to MaineMaine’s Secretary of State over certifying petition signatures.

Last Saturday tens of thousands of Americans from every part of the country gathered on the National Mall in Washington, DC to protest recent and proposed massve increases in the power of the federal government. Among those who came to Washington to make their voices heard were Democrats, Republicans, independents, Libertarians and folks from all other political stripes.

If Connecticut had state-wide initiative & referendum rights, citizens could hold accountable a government that promised not to raise the state’s tax level above a certain percentage.

Citizens in Charge Foundation President Paul Jacob, recently wrote one of his daily Common Sense columns about Connecticut’s tax troubles and the affect they can have on a state:

Connecticut used to be one of the go-to places for escaping state income taxes.

A former Mayor or Myrtle Beach is pushing a petition drive to bring a recent tax increase to a vote. The one percent sales tax increase approved by the city council would go to fund advertising and tourism promotions.

 

Read the story at CarolinaLive.com

As the mentioned here, the most famous Massachusetts initiative petition is known as “Proposition 2 1/2”, which just happens to be a perfect example of the fusion between the state and local level I&R processes in the Commonwealth. Ever since Prop. 2 1/2 passed in 1982, voters in a municipality must pass a “Proposition 2 1/2 override” to increase property taxes beyond 2.5% of the assessed value of all taxable property contained in it the municipality. Towns rarely do pass Prop. 2 1/2 overrides.

Canon City council will ask voters in November to suspend tax rebates due to them under the 1992 Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABoR). Under TABoR the city must return any money beyond what it is allowed to collect to taxpayers. The ballot measure would suspend those rebates for ten years between 2010 and 2020.

Read the story from the Canyon City Daily Record

Signatures on petitions to recall the city mayor and one council member are being reviewed by elections officials today in Cap May Court House. Recall supporters are targeting the officials in response recent and proposed tax increases.

Read the story from the Press of Atlantic City

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

What if I told you that there is an effect underway by Democrats inside of the State Capitol to make it more difficult and expensive to qualify ballot measures?  Would you be shocked?  Would it really surprise you that a legislature that has its own ability to place measures on the ballot (like the taxes that were rejected by voters last May) doesn’t want the people to have that same power?

An editorial in today’s Sacramento Bee indicates that it is California’s irresponsible lawmakers that are to blame for the state’s budget woes. Critics are often quick to blame Proposition 13, the historic property tax limitation, for budget problems. As Dan Walters points out, property tax revenues have risen 800 percent since the passage of Prop 13.

A group of Prescott, AZ citizens have formed a committee to put a 3/4 cent tax increase on the city ballot. The funds generated would go toward street maintenance.

Read the story from Read It News