Posted on 07/02/2002 1:28:29 PM PDT by GailA
Edited on 04/22/2004 12:34:05 AM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
NASHVILLE, Tenn.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
I live in Tennessee and have been following this battle to force through an Unconstitutional Income Tax for four years now
Tennessee like all states has a SPENDING problem.
We have a Constitutional growth cap of 5.45%. BUT each budget for the past 8 years has been 12-13% higher than the year before. ONE BILLION dollars higher each year for the past seven years. This current budget is 12% higher than last year's budget.
Tax revenues have been 21% higher for the past decade while spending has risen 47%. Gov Spendquist wants to spend $1.5BILLION in NEW spending this year. $40M is for a NEW mandatory Pre-K for four year olds. In 5 years it will grow to $153M.
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. (The Kingsport Times)
In other words these Lawmakers have been COOKING the budget to produce these deficits. They changed reporting dates to also effect how the revenue figures will look. They closed parks to lose tax revenues. Norris Dam Park lost $3M in sales tax revenue in just a few short months.
Only one item in the Commercial Appeal on 4/30/02 by Locker has reported the fact that Seniors whose SS income is subjected to the Federal IT will have to pay the 4.5% State IT on their SS income.
Mr. Naifeh said he would not be spending wildly yet he wants to grow the government by 300 new T-I-IRS employees. That sir/madame is spending wildly. ''I assure you that we, the Tennessee General Assembly, as long as I am there, won't be spending wildly because we're not going to have enough revenue to be spending wildly. We are going to have to be very prudent in what we do and what we spend if we are able to pass this bill. Naifeh The Tennessean 4/30/02
Last year they were forced to remove dozens of NEW college buildings from the bloated budget. They put them back into this years budget knowing it would drive the budget into the RED even further.
NOW they are threatening to cut 7,500 K-12 teachers.
Here's a cut you can make pg b35 womens economic council it has 2 full time employees 1 part timer and 1seasonal employee, salary consumes $73,500 and operations consumes $25,500 for a total of $98,700. Since they only spend a small amount of money on the actual job they do this council is NOT a necessity and should be abolished. It is one of those do nothing line some friend or relatives pocket job.
We had a doom & gloom no new taxes budget last year. Yet no child starved, no old lady did with out medical care. NO teacher lost their jobs. Memphis City School has 14,000 employees..of which 55% are teachers. Not one mention of laying off support personnel or administrators, just teachers.
There are things we could eliminate that would not effect basic human services. Holocaust Commission is one of them eliminate it. We could roll the TWO higher ED boards into ONE. Sundquist is purposing THREE NEW ED programs...he can't pay for the ones he has yet he wants to spend $61M for THREE NEW ONES. ONE A MANDATORY Pre-K for 4 year olds $40M is set to grow to $153M in 5 years.
Eliminate the wildflowers in the Medians it would save $1.5M money better spent DIRECTLY on Veterans; eliminate quality awards $50,000; eliminate diversity marketing $100,000; eliminate minority business center $200,000; eliminate economic council on women $92,000; eliminate funding for small & minority telecommunication programs $80,100; eliminate golf cart crossing $260,000 for Warrior's Path State Park; eliminate 2 positions on the Historical Commission $185,000, eliminate TN Commissioner on National & Community Services $185,000; eliminate judicial & court clerks conferences $360,500. Eliminate the "in honor of road signs" they cost $500 per pair we get 20 of them a year. Eliminate NEW specialty plates, it cost $2,000 for each plate to alter the computer. Eliminate the Black Enterprise Conference $400,000. We were paying Miss Tennessee $30,000 to speak about Education..this could be eliminated.
Consideration should be given to possible merging of the Dept of Safety and the TDOT. Comments made by TDOT indicate that savings of $3,600,000 could be achieved just by merging certain functions. U of M Central avenue improvements $200,000 N Central Parking log extension $1,180M N parking garage $14M Performing arts center $16M University center renovations $22M Richardson Tower improvements $8,590M Various dorm improvements $4,430M
Chattanooga STC Athletic facilities lighting improvements $320,000
Walters SCC Greene Co Expo Center $5M Sevier Co Library $3M Sevier Co socer facilities $250,000
UT@ Chattanooga College St special housing $4.420M
UT @ Knoxville Neyland Thompson sports center $11.6M Morrill Hall renovation $3.65M Administration parking garage phase 2 $700,000 Campus entrance $2M Intercollegate swim facility $19.3M (there are 2 Olympic size pools on this campus, one reserved for the swim team) Stokley athletic center renovation $19.4M dinning hall renovation $2.5M
Ft Campbell museum $1M (annual expenditure) Country Music Hall of Fame $1M (annual expenditure)
ETSU Sherrod library renovation $10.3M (This was $9,99M last year)
NESTCC New humanities bldg $13.990M Paris landing kitchen renovation $1.290M ETSU golf Practice area $250,000 Warriors State park golf cart crossing $260,000 (this was only $247,000 in last year's budget)
APSU McCord bldg renovations $6.840M WSCC college center renovation $4.380M DSCC--LLC Eller & Glover addition/renovation $6.90M UTK Glover bldg renovation/addition $24.3M UTMHSC college of pharamacy bldg $32.9M ESTU Greek row $9.250M FRAT HOUSE ETSU Tennis facility $1M
MTSU Greek row development $17M FRAT HOUSE housing renovations $15M obsovatory relocation $500,000 NEW sports museum $1M recreation fields replacement $4.150M property demolition $350,000 parking lot $600,000 Nursing bldg addition $4.15M women's soft ball locker room $500,000
State Museum new planning phase 1 $150,000 (State Museum already gets $2.4M)
MISC spending goes from $21,533,400 to a WHOPPING $176,438,800 with no listing on what it is being spent on.
Black Enterprise conference $400,000 Womens conference $92,000 warbler and elk land purschase $10M Electronic library $1M Public TV $3.223,600 (and they want $6.6M more to go digital)
This does NOT include the governors 3 new ED programs. $10M reading coaches $11.1M catch up for 7-9th grade for the new Gateway test $40.3 for the Early Childhood program which grows to $153M in 5 years.
NOR the $131M for the three pay raises he wants 5% for State workers $49.150M, 3.5% teachers $41,350M, there is another 2.5% pay raise $40.1M .
$20M for compensation job equalization for State workers $138M new funding for TennCare $10M for a new round of open enrollment TennCare AND he wants to replace the money they took out of the Tobacco settlement, that is a big chunk $233M
The State lost 91M to the CA energy mess, $18 in the Enron mess and $30M in the Reliance ins mess.
The TNCAFR reports says the TN government has $4.74 BILLION in reserve revenues. Sen Curtis Person has tried to get this report...but the Comptroler can't seem to find where the money is. http://www.cafrman.com/Articles/Art-TN-S1.htm
IT'S A SPENDING CRISIS NOT A REVENUE CRISIS.
Gail Keasling Millington, TN 38053
OR the $17M the State Taxpayers gave the Med (Regional Medical Center) for treatment of MISSISSIPPI trauma victims.
OR the $500M in FRAUD in TennCare.
200 MORE days of SPENDQUIST.
Guest columnist Dale Bails: Taxpayers need facts to weigh income tax
April 28, 2002
Guest columnist Dale Bails is an associate professor of economics at Christian Brothers University.
During each legislative session, Tennessee voters are berated for their shortsighted views on the state's revenue shortfall. They are accused of a failure to understand the problem, or of an unwillingness to address the issue of basic tax reform. These arguments demand to be confronted.
Many lawmakers and such special interest groups as public education unions believe the state's budget problems stem from a lack of revenue growth. This argument is advanced each time budget decisions must be made, but it doesn't match reality.
According to the Tennessee Department of Revenue, state tax revenues have increased by 26 percent over the past five years and 82 percent over the past 10 years. Although tax revenues increased by only 1 percent in the past fiscal year, they increased by more than 8 percent in the preceding year. How many Tennesseans saw their personal incomes increase by a like amount over the past two years?
An evaluation of state spending is equally revealing. Expenditures this fiscal year are more than 6 percent higher than last year's, and are projected to rise by another 6.5 percent next year.
THE LARGEST increase is in what is referred to as "miscellaneous" appropriations. This category increased 186 percent this fiscal year, and is projected to increase by another 186 percent during the next fiscal year. This spending is never documented in detail.
Again, how many Tennessee families have been able to afford almost a 13 percent increase in their spending over the past two years? It would seem just as reasonable to suggest that the fiscal problems are the product of a state government that has paid too little attention to the spending side of the budget.
It is entirely possible that the state's revenue sources are not keeping pace with its economic growth and with the demands citizens place on state government. Before they accept this position, though, voters deserve a consistent and detailed accounting of the growth in state spending and revenue sources over a specific time period.
Anyone who has sought to make sense of the spending figures that the state publishes quickly becomes frustrated at trying to understand the terms that are used. Some figures are referred to as "appropriations," some are called "actual expenditures," and still others are described as "estimated expenditures." Depending on the source used, figures for both spending and revenues can be completely different.
How are citizens to determine how much is spent on education, TennCare or roads? How much state revenue derives from taxes, and how much from the federal government? These issues could be addressed with a simple publication that presents information in an understandable format.
If, as state officials claim, Tennessee's budget problems are revenue-based, then and only then do increased taxes warrant consideration. But several issues deserve vigorous discussion.
FIRST, THERE is nothing inherently fair about an income tax. Individuals who pay $1,000 in taxes have their purchasing power reduced by that amount, whether they pay an income tax or a sales tax.
There are some appealing aspects of an income tax. It places a lesser burden on low-income taxpayers, relative to a sales tax.
The current proposal for an income tax combined with sales tax relief likely would be well received - if the legislation included three conditions.
A flat-rate income tax is preferable to a graduated tax for reasons of efficiency. Any deviations from the initial flat rate need to be approved by voters, not merely the legislature. Despite advocates' pledges to maintain the proposed income tax rate, history teaches us to expect the opposite. Finally, an increase in future taxes of any type also should have to be approved by voters.
With these additions to the tax reform proposal, along with an honest accounting of expenditures, there is some reason to believe that Tennessee voters would be willing to support an income tax.
Additionally, the combination of these changes would do much to restore lost public trust in state government officials and agencies. Continual bickering and finger pointing do little to solve fundamental problems, and only divide Tennesseans to the detriment of all.
Well Duh, if everyone would take such precautions (as they should) there would be no need for this program in which guys ride around in trucks looking for cars on the side of the road. What did people do a couple of years ago before this program started? They called for a tow truck, as people have done since the begining of auto usage.
There's the problem! Harshly cutting state programs should have been the FIRST resort!
But you know the drill. You've seen it before.
Appropriation--funds the government obligates to be spent on specific item, project, etc.
Actual expenditures--funds actually spent.
Estimated expenditures--a forecast of how the funds will be spent.
Even if funds were appropriated for a specific purpose at the beginning of the year, that does not mean the funds were spent. In fact, the funds appropriated may never be spent.
The only way to know what the state is actually spending would be to look at every actual expenditure. My wife and I offered to look at the state's books last year. Shockingly, the state did not take us up on our offer. We only wanted a one percent commission for every dollar of savings we could find.
Looks like a 22,000 part tax cut to me! If the employees are non-essential in the first place, why are they working for the state govt at all? It's amazing how these morons cannot see the solution to their own problem right in front of their nose. (sarcasm)
BUMP for great freeping!
Regards,
LH
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