Summer Budget Essay

In the early 90’s a majority democratic Texas legislature debated on the equalizing school funds, but no plan was gained, mainly because it would require rising local and state taxes. Texas at the time having one of the nation’s highest taxes. The educational issue continued to face many special sessions in the Texas house, a new program was finally adopted that met the approval of the federal ruling. The new educational program shifted funding from local tax to state tax. While the program was

As the newly promoted director of student achievement for Washington, D.C Public Schools, I am fully committed to the expansion of current program offerings as well as the creation of additional programs. To achieve this, I will make use of the principles learned in my graduate budgeting course to assess the current financial situation, plan the department’s future direction, create and implement the new annual budget, and lastly, evaluate the success of the programs and the budget in preparation of repeating these steps.

Despite the elevating taxes, many people argue that Texas has a very low combined state and local tax burden. This is only true at the state level, but at the local level Texas has a very high tax burden - 9th in sales tax per capita and 15th in property tax per capita (Lavine 15). The state managed to portray this image only because Texas pushes funding obligations down to the local level, such as public education. For this reason, cities such as Houston must implement high property taxes to ensure adequate funding for police enforcement, public transportation, and education. Because of the tremendous shortfall this year, the city of Houston resorted to layoff teachers and security personnel to meet budget requirements. Therefore, instead of continued tax hikes or sacrificing much needed state services, why not allow for casino gambling as an alternative source of revenue for the state? The direct economic impact of casino gambling is clear by looking at our neighboring states.

The States next solution, income tax. HB 115 would raise an estimated $700 million a year, while separate legislation to increase oil taxes and restructure the Permanent Fund would generate $2 billion more. Since the Trans-Alaska Pipeline brought billions of dollars in oil revenue in 1980, Alaska has not had any state taxes. Although statewide income tax would be very unpopular amongst Alaskan residents, it would also be the most effective way to generate revenue. An income tax proposal introduced by the Alaska State House would generate $660 million per year that could be used towards the budget deficit. Revenue from an income tax alone would not be enough to fix the state’s budget deficit, but would take off a significant amount. Introducing income tax would make a significant contribution toward ending Alaska’s budget deficit in a shorter time, while in the future, it’ll

Property tax is a charge on property that the owner is responsible for paying. The tax is constructed on the value of the property one owns and is often estimated by local or municipal governments. When paying a property tax bill, the money goes to a number of important programs, city employees, police officers, firefighters, and public works departments also receive pay. The property tax money is used to pay for parks, traffic construction, street lights, sidewalks, and public transportation. Imposing a cap on property taxes would not only impact communities but it will also create several major problems. Cities would be affected and unable to hire employees in the public safety, since salaries and other benefits would be increased. A cap would reduce job establishment and damage the state's economic growth. The cap would also create more traffic problems by limiting

Facing tough budget decisions in advance, various cities, and county have two options: raise taxes or reduce services. Furthermore, there has not been a tax increase in a long period, county officials have alleged. They recognized this day would come. The administrator distressed and diagnosed the circumstances where they provide the primary inspection and repairs.

This could cut the local tax rate – in most school districts now around $1.50 per $100 of property value for maintenance and operations (M&O) – to roughly 50 cents! The maximum M&O tax rate – also now generally capped at $1.50 – must be reduced by the same percentage as total M&O taxes. If the income tax cut the property tax rate by 65%, then it would also cut the tax cap by 65%. After the cap was cut, only the voters in a school district could increase their district’s maximum tax rate. The Bullock Amendment then provides that the remaining one-third of income tax revenue could be spent, but only on education. State income tax payments are deductible from taxable income in calculating federal income taxes. Deductibility shifts part of the cost of public education to the federal government. The above chart shows that, although the tax would have raised $16.4 billion in 2004, the net cost to Texas taxpayers would have been only $3.9 billion. Lower property taxes would have returned most of the new revenue ($10.9 billion) to taxpayers. Uncle Sam would have picked up 10% of the total cost of the income tax ($1.6 billion) through higher deductions on federal tax

Texas does outperform other states in terms of economic growth and population growth. Many people move to Texas because of the jobs and they do taxes right. (Batheja, 2013) Gov. Rick Perry believes Texas’s performance through the recession is due to lack of income tax. He says “You can stop trying to figure out how to pay the state income tax, because we don’t have one.” (Batheja, 2013) The Tax Foundation, a conservative-leaning research group, ranks Texas ninth-best on its State Business Tax Climate Index, largely because of the state’s lack of an income tax. (Batheja, 2013) On the other hand, Texas’s high property taxes remains a crucial complaint among business and homeowners. It’s harder for small business to pay their taxes especially if their business wasn’t very profitable. Small business end up using their own personal savings, mortgages, or borrow money in order to pay their taxes. Having a state tax would benefit small business. Although having no state tax is accepted by many, it puts a dent on cities and towns. Local debt has increased over the past decade, in large part to cover the costs for new schools and public maintenance projects. (Batheja, 2013) The state is pushing projects such as building of highways and roads to cities and counties. (Batheja, 2013) In 2012, more than 500 lawsuits were from school districts arguing that our public education isn’t properly

In states without state income tax, higher sales, property and other assorted taxes can exceed the annual cost of a state income tax. Texas is one of seven states that do not levy an individual income tax. The Tax Foundation, a conservative-leaning research group, ranks Texas ninth-best on its State Business Tax Climate Index, largely because of the state’s lack of an income tax. On three of the foundation’s other major rankings — property taxes, sales taxes and corporate taxes — Texas ranks in the bottom 20 states. Texas does not have a statewide property tax, but local property taxes remain a crucial complaint among businesses and homeowners. (Terrence, 2002) The main benefit is that states with no income tax become a beacon for growth. They 're better at creating jobs and keeping a core of young, educated workers from moving to other states. The issue is undoubtedly controversial. Public opinion usually swings with the size of one 's paycheck and the role people think governments should play in shaping society. Texas has an above-average sales taxes, and Texas also has higher-than-average effective property tax rates. Cutting the income tax will boost take-home pay for everyone. It 'll make the state more attractive than its neighbors, creating jobs, drawing new businesses, and sparking an influx of talented workers.

There is no doubt that Texas’s state government is one of the most conservative in the nation on both an economic and social level. As a governing body Texas has fought to deregulate itself on the bases that a weak government translates to strong personal liberties. The political culture of the state is apparent to all who live there. However, in recent history Texas has proven to be a solid competitor when offering tax rebates to filmmakers and videogame creators who produce their content in the state. These rebates refund some of the production costs and are widely considered to be beneficial to employment within the state’s entertainment and tourism industry (Weed). Sadly, in 2015 Texas lawmakers cut the previously impressive budget for

Proposition 30 (prop 30 or SB11) is supported by the schools and local public safety protection Act of 2012. Prop 30 is a tax initiative led by California governor Jerry Brown. Prop 30 is aimed at reducing forecasted budget cuts to public schools also higher education, by increasing the California sales tax from 7.25% to 7.50%for the next four years. It also will create three new tax brackets for taxable incomes. Incomes exceeding $250,000, $300,000 and $500,000 will pay more in taxes for the next seven years. With the extra money being saved will go towards adding more classes for higher education students. Also to help reduce California’s state budget, prop 30 should raise $6 billion annually form raised taxes.

As mentioned by Thompson (2010), in the Associated Press, “Lawmakers bridged a $19 billion shortfall, more than 20 percent of the $87.5 billion general fund spending plan”. This shows that the state was heading towards a financial crisis and more deficit creation. Moreover, Thompson (2010), in the Associated Press also points out that “It includes no tax or fee increases but uses a combination of cuts, funding shifts, delayed corporate tax breaks and assumptions about money the state hopes to receive”. The budget gave rise to other dependent costs such as delayed tax refunds. It was uncertain that the State will receive the required funds from the federal government to ensure that the important programs will function the way it used to be until the funds are received.

The purpose of this report is to determine if the government is acting fairly in its taxation of the American population, and to point out the waste in government spending. In an article published November 1995, an unknown author explained the need for government "revenue" by defending what the revenue supplies for the people. In America we live within a free enterprise society. A free enterprise system is based on the idea of competition is good and that only the most efficient businesses will survive. The free enterprise system works with the idea that the consumer is somewhat knowledgeable about the products they buy. However, in today's modern world the consumer cannot be always be expected to make an informed decision about something. This is where federal laws are put in place to protect the interest of the public. Examples of such laws are regulations covering quality and safety of home

Personal Budget Exercise – Excel Creating a spreadsheet track personal business expenses is an excellent use of Microsoft Excel. For this exercise, you will create a spreadsheet to enter a personal budget and track actual expenses for the year. You may choose to use real data or create a fictitious budget using a monthly income amount of $2,500. Here are suggested budget categories if you are not using a real budget. At a minimum, you must have 9 budget categories: Housing (mortgage or rent) Utilities Car payment Insurance Student Loans Food Misc. Entertainment Gas Savings

Many families and single people are forced to live on a budget. The process of living within a budget takes will and determination but to reach happiness and avoid poverty, it is worth the sacrifices. There are many economic reasons, such as a new baby in the household, job loss or change, the children’s education expenses or retirement. All of these occurrences can cause financial burdens and, the need to control and tightened spending. Even the wealthy, have to budget and arrange their unrestricted expenses against their limited incomes. It is possible to live well on a tight budget but there has to be an understanding of the expenses, a good attitude and a clever plan.