|
"I personally would favor paying less taxes, but to me, it's like where are we going to make up the difference?" said Steve Schlegel, a bicycle shop owner in Oklahoma City. "I already feel like government is underfunded at the moment." Roger Garner, a letter courier, said he would accept higher property taxes if it meant eliminating the income tax. "Get rid of it," Garner said. "Florida doesn't have it. Texas doesn't have it. We don't need it. If something is needed, we can figure out a way to pay for it at the local level." Conservatives say the lost revenue will be made up by increased economic activity
-- more businesses paying corporate taxes and more employees paying property taxes and spending money. But economists warn those predictions are unrealistic. Without creating an alternative funding system, "it's clearly irresponsible to propose taking action against the income tax," said Alan Viard, an economist with the American Enterprise Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based conservative think tank.
Former Oklahoma Treasurer Scott Meacham, a Democrat who helped negotiate a series of small income tax cuts, urged state leaders to be careful tinkering with the state's economy, which is currently enjoying double-digit revenue growth and has one of the 10 lowest unemployment rates in the country. "If you look at our state's economy, it's doing very well versus virtually any other state, whether they have a state income tax or not," said Meacham, who is now a member of the board of directors for the State Chamber, an association of Oklahoma business and industry. Voters, he added, "ought to be very concerned, especially in an election year, when the politicians are telling them they know what's best for them from an economic standpoint." In neighboring Kansas, Republican Gov. Sam Brownback has a sweeping plan to overhaul income taxes that calls for offsetting income tax cuts by canceling a scheduled drop in the sales tax. But it would increase the tax burden for the state's poorest households. And he faces resistance from within his own party over concern that the sales tax increase was supposed to be a temporary fix back in 2010. A similar debate is unfolding in Oklahoma, where the plan calls for reducing the income tax from 5.25 percent to 4.75 percent by eliminating the personal exemption for every household member, including children, as well as the child tax credit and earned income tax credit. An analysis by the Oklahoma Policy Institute shows those steps would raise taxes for 55 percent of Oklahomans, mostly low-income families and those with children. "We have grave doubts about this proposal," said David Blatt, director of the institute. "We see stumbling blocks in every direction. You either decimate state services or shift the burden onto those that can least afford it."
[Associated
Press;
Copyright 2012 The Associated
Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
News | Sports | Business | Rural Review | Teaching & Learning | Home and Family | Tourism | Obituaries
Community |
Perspectives
|
Law & Courts |
Leisure Time
|
Spiritual Life |
Health & Fitness |
Teen Scene
Calendar
|
Letters to the Editor