Posted on 02/24/2002 5:41:11 AM PST by GailA
Edited on 05/07/2004 9:19:57 PM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
Will this dog hunt?
Sponsors of two similar budget proposals call them worst-case scenarios designed to jump-start stalled talks. One plan derisively labels itself the D.O.G., or ''Downsizing Ongoing Government,'' plan.
These no-new-taxes proposals slash existing education funding, drop 300,000 people from state-subsidized health care, cut most state agencies by 10% and eliminate the departments of tourism and economic development. One plan, unveiled Thursday, was offered by the House leadership; the other, which surfaced Friday, was offered by a key senator.
(Excerpt) Read more at tennessean.com ...
By BONNA de la CRUZ Staff Writer
A state Senate leader has come up with his own version of a no-new-taxes budget for next year, but it is in many ways similar — 95% to 98%, he estimates — to a House plan rolled out last week.
Sen. Jim Kyle, D-Memphis, vice chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, says he wants his colleagues in the Senate to decide whether they would rather keep state parks open or cut less from K-12 classrooms. He plans to finish details tomorrow and present his version to the finance committee Tuesday.
Kyle's budget proposal would cut $732 million from current programs in state government — $50 million less than its companion plan in the House. The House plan was passed out to reporters and posted on the legislature's Web site Thursday by House Speaker Jimmy Naifeh and House Finance Chairman Matt Kisber.
Both versions identify spending cuts from the base budget Gov. Don Sund-quist filed earlier this month and wipe out most of the $700 million in in-creased spending that he proposed.
One key difference between his plan and the Kisber plan, Kyle said, is that he plans to keep parks open, while under the House plan, only parks that can sustain themselves through fees would survive.
''Those are the hard choices you have to make,'' Kyle said, adding that senators have not shown the will to close parks as a cost-saving measure. Kyle said he considers them less vital to Tennessee citizens than education and other programs.
Sen. Randy McNally, R-Oak Ridge, who leads the Senate Education Committee but is a vocal parks advocate, called the Kyle budget ''unacceptable,'' saying it is a scare tactic to promote an income tax.
Thursday, Kisber unveiled $782 million in possible cuts to state programs, including more than $400 million from K-12 education. He has not scheduled a hearing for the proposal, named by Kisber the ''Downsizing Ongoing Government Services Budget'' and derisively referred to by Naifeh as ''the D.O.G. budget'' for short.
Naifeh said the plan will be the backdrop for departmental budget hearings by the House finance committee over the next few weeks, and lawmakers can make changes there as departmental budget hearings proceed.
Kyle plans to finalize details of his proposal tomorrow and is scheduled to present it to the Senate finance committee at 8 a.m. Tuesday.
''I guess I feel like we're further down the road than the House does,'' Kyle said. ''I'm taking the first step toward people voting on this. If a member can't vote for this budget, or one that is modified, then they are committing to vote for taxes.''
Kyle's plan proposes to cut $363 million from the K-12 Basic Education Program, which he estimates will require laying off 15% of teachers statewide, unless local governments pick up the tab. Kisber proposes cutting $373 million from the BEP.
Kyle also proposes cutting $71 million in higher education, which he said would translate into a 15% tuition in-crease. Kisber proposes a $93 million reduction in higher education.
While Kyle and Kisber say cutting education is the last thing either wanted to do, those programs make up half of where state dollars are spent in the $7.5 billion base general fund.
The plan is a working document, Kyle said. If lawmakers want to avoid the K-12 cuts, they could vote to withhold state-shared taxes — estimated at $682 million next year — from local governments, or they could propose cuts elsewhere, including parks.
He said he did not specifically propose park closures because they have become a lightning rod for those who say the no-new-taxes budget is a scare tactic, he said.
State lawmakers have wrestled with budget and tax questions for three years and cannot agree how to balance the proposed 2002-03 state budget. Gov. Don Sundquist says the state needs $558 million extra just to continue state operations as they are this year — because of smaller tax collections and replacing one-time money spent in the current year's budget.
Instead of waiting until the last minute, usually April or May, Kisber and Kyle say they are offering their proposals early to give lawmakers and the public a view of how the state would operate without new revenue.
McNally said the budget plans are ''unacceptable'' and are being rolled out to promote an income tax.
''They are trying to give us a choice between passing an income tax, which is not acceptable, or this budget, which is totally unacceptable,'' McNally said.
He said he supports legislation to raise diesel and gasoline taxes by a penny each to fund parks and tourism but thinks attempts to do more would be harder to pass.
He said he plans to protect K-12 and higher education from any cuts, saying, ''I think education would be more of a lightning rod than parks.''
McNally said he is willing to vote for other taxes, such as an increase in the state sales tax, expanding the sales tax to services and raising the car tag tax.
Kyle countered that there is not majority support to pass those proposals in either the House or the Senate.
''We have to do what we can with what we have,'' Kyle said.
He said he does not propose raiding the state's $670 million highway construction and maintenance fund or taking state-shared taxes from local governments because he does not think those concepts are ''politically viable,'' meaning there is not a majority in either house to do those things.
Kyle said he is dubious of the sincerity of those who propose raiding the road fund as a budget balancing measure because no one either has filed or attempted to move legislation to do so.
As for raiding reserves, Kyle said he proposes to do that to make up more than $300 million in uncollected and new appropriations for such things as higher employee insurance premiums, reopening parks and funding homeland defense. He said that leaves little for contingencies next year.
Under his proposal, he would erase the revenue shortfall this year, in part, through these reserve funds: Use $167 million from the state's $178 million ''rainy day'' fund; $56 million from the Tennessee Housing and Development Agency; $50 million from the victims' compensation fund; $11 million from a minority telecommunications program; $12 million from a local parks acquisition fund; $8 million from the state land acquisition fund; $2.4 million from the wetlands fund; $4 million from the agricultural resources conservation fund; and $26 million from the Pacific Gas and Electric reserve fund.
Kyle said his budget proposal is subject to change before Tuesday but is 95% to 98% similar to Kisber's.
Here are some key highlights and comparisons:
• Both plans propose to roll back TennCare coverage to only Medicaid enrollees. Kyle said the value of that change is $100 million, but his budget accounts for just a $50 million savings because the change can't be implemented before Jan. 1, 2003, under a federal agreement.
• Kisber proposes to eliminate $110 million in existing programs, while Kyle proposes almost $100 million.
• Kisber proposes $98 million in targeted reductions, while Kyle proposes $89 million.
• Kisber proposes $107 million in 10% ''across-the-board'' reductions, allowing departments to decide where to make those cuts, while Kyle proposes $110 million in ''unspecified'' reductions.
• Kyle retains $17 million to operate state parks, although lawmakers could choose to cut that as part of the $110 million in unspecified cuts state departments will have a say in making.
-archy-/-
"Every time someone said we have to have a state income tax, they stood tall and said we don't need a state income tax," he said.
Hilleary also defended the delegation against charges that they had been "ineffective," since their stance against an income tax is said to have cost the area state highway projects.
"When we start backing off principles for a little bit of government pork, this party is going the wrong way," he said.
I THOUGHT WE HAD A BUDGET CRISIS and NEEDED MORE TAXES? Herron and Maddox want to CUT taxes for a certain few. Hmmm PROPERTY TAXES ARE LOCAL, which means the Shelby Co Commissioners and the Memphis City Council are gonna want EVEN MORE TAXES out of us to make up for these excused folks.
Greeks hope for tax break
http://www.dailyhelmsman.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2002/02/20/3c739c8264e00
By LaToya Clement Staff Reporter
February 20, 2002
Fraternities and sororities may be getting a break on property taxes in the near future. Tennessee state Sen. Roy Herron (D-Dresden) and Rep. Mark Maddox (D-Dresden) recently proposed a bill to the state general assembly that will allow fraternities and sororities to be exempt from paying property taxes.
According to proposal SB3140/HB3185, “Social fraternities and sororities affiliated with colleges and universities ... are exempt from payment of federal income taxes under Section 501(c) of the United States Internal Revenue Code, to the extent that such property is not used for revenue-producing profit.” The bill does not consider rent charged to fraternity members “revenue-producing profit.”
SB3140/HB3185 is still being considered by the general assembly. If the bill is passed, it could be beneficial to the fraternities and sororities at The University of Memphis.
For example, according to the Shelby County Assessor of Property office, the current value of the Alpha Tau Omega property is approximately $41,960. If the exemption is passed, the ATO organization could save over $1,300 a year in property taxes.
ATO President Patrick Crider, a business management major, is excited about the possibility of a fraternal organization tax exemption bill.
“If it passed and it saves money, it would be great. We need to cut as many corners as possible,” said Crider. “Money is hard to come by around here. Extra money would go towards our philanthropy and community service.”
Joel Crews, sophomore and secretary of Pi Kappa Phi, was equally pleased to hear that the passing of the bill could save his fraternity nearly $600 a year in property taxes.
“The more extra money that we could save, the better. We would use the extra money towards anything, especially our philanthropy, Save America,” said Crews.
Herron said he was eager to propose the property tax exemption bill to the General Assembly after receiving feedback from constituents concerning the subject.
“Friends of mine in the Alpha Gamma Rho fraternity at UT-Martin were concerned with what they thought was a misinterpretation of the law concerning taxes,” said Herron. “They asked me to introduce the legislation, and I did.”
Herron believes that the passing of SB3140/HB3185 could greatly benefit the students affiliated with fraternities and sororities in Tennessee.
“Obviously, this affects students all across this state,” said Herron. “Situations like the Alpha Gamma Rho home at Martin are residential facilities. They are non-profit, non-commercial adventures not designed to make a profit. And I think that the state should recognize that.”
Rep David Davis, with the agreement of Crowe and Patton, said a shortfall in the current budget of upwards of $350 million is a "real deficit,'' while past budgets "artificially" inflated expenditures to produce a deficit.
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