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Idea to send: |
| Topic | Tax Reform |
| Content | Our antiquated taxation system needs a complete overhaul. While the state and many of our 77 counties now enjoy huge revenue surpluses, cities like Tulsa, that have been skrimping for decades, can STILL barely make budget. They have BILLIONS of dollars of deferred maintenence, and are literally falling to pieces. Federal resources are drying up, and I realize there is nothing you can do about that. But there are things you can do. And you must. Cities have nowhere to turn. Sales tax is the only option for cities, and the state and county have sucked up all of the excess capacity. Tulsa scrapes by on 3 cents of the 8.517 cents collected here, the only options are raising sales taxes to something suicidal like 11% (ha!), or forming a city income tax (double ha!).
The quick and dirty answer would be for the state and counties to get out of the sales tax business. In order to do that, you might try bringing property taxes in line with Texas. But a wiser move would first be to examine ALL sources of revenue and expenditures right down to the city level, and find a way to reallocate resources in ways that will benefit our state the most in the future. Let me be clear, we don't need to INCREASE the size of government; we don't even need to raise taxes; but what we DO need to do is to rebalance in ways that will transform our cities into world-class competitors.
We are all PROUD to have grandparents grew up on farms and ranches, but we all recognize that our CITIES are the future of this state. We must invest in them now, while we have something to work with, or they will fail. And our state will fail.
Take a look at Tulsa City Councilor Bill Martinson's report on the subject. Municipal Revenues and Fiscal Constraints, Bill Martinson, City Council Chairman, March 8, 2007
http://www.tulsacouncil.org/pdfs/website%20embedded/COT_Fiscal_Constraints.pdf
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