Ohio Governor Proposes Postponement of Tax Reduction
Ohio is still working hard to sort out their slots issues. Governor Stickland is suporting the postponement of a budgeted reduction in income taxes that came into effect on September 30th. The Governor is stating the postponement is the best option for the state as they try to figure out the $851 million deficit in educational funding. The shortfall in funds is a difficult one to manage and Strickland was hoping to use revenues from slots as a way to close the gap on teh huge cost to the state. Unfortunately the Ohio Supreme Court just decided that to use slots in the state as funding there must be an official voter referendum. In other words, the people need to decide if this is acceptable and make the decision for their state.
Though slots were approved by the Governor, now things are up in the air until the referendum vote decides the outcome. One of the organizations petitioning for the vote was LetOhioVote.org. This is a group that, just like their name implies, is trying to let the state citizens vote on whether or not they believe that slot machine revenues are a desired way of funding government programs, education and other funding needed to close the gap on the huge deficit in the budget. LetOhioVote.org has made headlines as of late due to their active campaigning for signatures that would secure the decision for the state to let people decide on the issue.
In 2005, legislation approved a lowering of personal income tax rates by 4.2% each year from 2005 throughout 2009 in the state. This means that a family that earned, say $50,000, the delay in the income tax reduction play would produce a tax bill approximately $80 more than they normally would have paid. Strickland is hoping that the income tax change is a more reasonable action than laying off teachers or suspending educational programs. Without slots revenue, Stickland said that the satate funding would have to be decreased by 10% and in two years the total cuts would add up to approximately $37.9 million. It will most likely be an issue that will be settled by the people of the state when the referendum is voted on in 2010.
Tags: Ohio, referendum, slots, vote
