New Brief: Initiative 1185: Reaffirming a Supermajority Requirement for Tax Increases
We have a new policy brief today on I-1185, which would again require a two-thirds legislative supermajority for tax increases. The requirement was last approved in 2010. Because it has been two years since then, the legislature could amend, repeal, or suspend the requirement — unless I-1185 is approved by voters. Our brief looks at […]
August 23 , 2012 - Kriss Sjoblom
New Policy Brief: COST Study on Business Tax Burden
We have posted a policy brief on the 2012 edition of Ernst & Young’s annual study of state and local business tax burdens, which is published by the Council on State Taxation (COST). In fiscal year 2011, businesses paid a total of $16.3 billion in state and local taxes in Washington, representing 5.5 percent of […]
August 20 , 2012 - Richard S. Davis
Discovering interactive tax calculators at National Taxpayers Conference
Just finished hearing a great presentation by Nick Kasprak, programmer and analyst at the Tax Foundation. he was leadoff speaker at the NTC conference, held this year in Washington, D.C. He showed us a number of user-friendly and useful tools to help understand state and local tax policies: net migration, performance against state expenditure limits, […]
August 14 , 2012 - Richard S. Davis
WA and CA only states showing negative FY12 balance in NCSL budget update
While it’s not necessarily cause for alarm, the negative balances reported in the 2012 state budget update isn’t the happy news one hopes for in these things. As the National Conference of State Legislature’s notes: In Washington, FY 2012 marks the midpoint of the biennium; the shortfall will be eliminated over the remainder of the […]
August 13 , 2012 - Richard S. Davis
August revenue collections report shows taxes track with forecast
Today’s revenue collections report, though possibly foreshadowing a softening, shows receipts continuing to track the June forecast. The press release has the yin and yang. It’s a good news/bad news thing. Major General Fund-State (GF-S) revenue collections were $45.0 million (3.8%) lower than the June forecast, but cumulative receipts for the last two months are […]
July 18 , 2012 - Emily Makings
Govistics on Taxes in Gold Bar
Our friends at the Center for Governmental Research in New York have a very handy product that helps users find and compare public finance data for U.S. states, counties, towns, school districts, etc: Govistics. In a blog post today, they link to a story about Gold Bar's decision to ask voters to agree to a […]
June 22 , 2012 - Kriss Sjoblom
State Tax Notes: Washington State Falls Short on Transparency
Our Policy Brief Five Keys to Evaluating a Tax System highlights transparency’s importance. A recent article by Cara Griffith in State Tax Notes (“Washington State Falls Short on Transparency,” June 18, 2012) calls out the Department of Revenue for a lack of transparency. By insisting on keeping the contents of its letter rulings and most […]
June 15 , 2012 - Kriss Sjoblom
Adam Smith's four maxims regarding taxation
As a follow-up to the Policy Brief we posted yesterday (Five Key’s to Evaluating a Tax System), here is the full quotation of Adam Smith’s four maxims on taxation:
June 14 , 2012 - Kriss Sjoblom
New Policy Brief: Five Keys to Evaluating a Tax System
We have posted a Policy Brief, Five Keys to Evaluating a Tax System, that explains the principles the Research Council uses when evaluating tax policies.
May 30 , 2012 - Richard S. Davis
2/3 supermajority for tax increases headed to Supreme Court after King County judge rules it unconstitutional
King County Superior Court Judge Bruce Heller today ruled that the voter-approved supermajority requirement is unconstitutional. The ruling puts the issue back in the hands of the state Supreme Court. Andrew Garber reports the decision in the Seattle Times. Patrick Peter Callaghan provides important background and context, including this. Three previous times the top court […]