We’re #4! We’re #4!
Amazingly, some people still say the fiscal problem we face in Nevada is that taxes aren’t high enough rather than that spending is too high. Well get this from a March 27th article titled “The Best & Worst States for Taxes” from MoneyCentral at MSN.com:
“The state in which residents pay the most in combined state, local and federal taxes, per capita, is Connecticut (38.3%), followed by New York (37.1%), New Jersey (35.6%) and Nevada (35.2%).”
Fourth worst! The revenue is here. The problem is the Legislature has over-spent and over-committed the state on the spending side for the last dozen years or so. Not only should we not be talking about tax hikes, we should be talking about tax cuts. And that’s the Lowden Line.
Powered by FireStats
According to the MSN study you cite, Nevada is fourth worst in “combined” tax burden, which is the sum of state and federal taxes. They rank Nevada 36th-worst in state tax burden, meaning about 70% of the states have higher per capita state tax burden, and only about 30% of the states have a lower state tax burden.
If you want to discuss state taxes and revenue, it seems disingenuous to cite a ranking for combined state and federal tax burden rather than the ranking for state tax burden.
There are issues with the state tax burden as reported by MSN that make it less than ideal (it appears to incorporate taxes on cigarettes and alcohol for instance), but the main issue is your use of a deceptive figure including federal tax burden to try and make a case regarding state taxes.
Clarence Smith — April 3, 2008 @ 1:53 pm
As a Nevadan who pays both Federal and State taxes, I regard Ms Lowden’s point as totally relevant to the issue of excessive and wasteful government spending and not at all disingenous.
Mr. Smith misses the heart of her message which is “…the Legislature has over-spent and over-committed the state on the spending side for the last dozen years or so”. That is clearly the case when we look at how the state legislature squandered the surplus revenue in the last session. The percentage increases many departments received were far greater than most Nevada wage earners got in pay increases.
As we move into another economic down cycle with many working people being laid off or having their income reduced, especially those who depend on tips, we see the Federal government sending back some of our money at the same time that many in state government are unwilling to give up any of the big increase they got last year.
George Dugan — April 3, 2008 @ 2:33 pm