We’ve Been Spent Into This Hole
By: Doug Busselman, Executive Vice President
It should seem obvious (although maybe not) it has been spending increases that brought us to the point of having a $900 Million hole in our state budget, not a shortage of taxes. The 2009 Nevada Legislature did increase the tax burden by a Billion dollars (going so far as to override a veto to make it happen). Further expansion of rates or scope of the tax load will not accomplish anything more than a further weakened private sector economy.
We don’t already have enough unemployment or other real world indicators of how badly damaged the private sector’s financial sustainability already is? Wouldn’t the projections of the inability for the taxes assessed to generate the revenue expected be some type of a signal? We should find more ways to inflict greater expenses on the people who pay taxes in order to provide funding for government tax spenders?
Geoffrey Lawrence of the Nevada Policy Research Institute has provided a very telling analysis of how spending increases shot up, starting in 2006, exceeding what would have been connected to a reasonable formula of inflation costs plus population increases.
To a large extent the history of 2003 tax hikes resulting in more available money to spend, seems to have played a role in state government spending more. The same situation repeated itself with the tax increases of 2009 (except the authorized spending increases – presented publicly as “cuts”) are probably going to end up being real reductions because of the hole that has to be filled.
Government hasn’t gotten into the hole it has because taxpayers aren’t being taxed enough – the results show that we’ve got more taxes than can be paid already. Further increases or expansion of the tax burden won’t make what’s already too heavy any more affordable.
Some form of limits on government spending are essential, done either in the form of a restrictive system (like the Tax and Spending Control formula) or through the election of legislators who are more financially responsible than those who have been voting for the spending increases we’ve been getting.
It should seem obvious (although maybe not) it has been spending increases that brought us to the point of having a $900 Million hole in our state budget, not a shortage of taxes. The 2009 Nevada Legislature did increase the tax burden by a Billion dollars (going so far as to override a veto to make it happen). Further expansion of rates or scope of the tax load will not accomplish anything more than a further weakened private sector economy.
We don’t already have enough unemployment or other real world indicators of how badly damaged the private sector’s financial sustainability already is? Wouldn’t the projections of the inability for the taxes assessed to generate the revenue expected be some type of a signal? We should find more ways to inflict greater expenses on the people who pay taxes in order to provide funding for government tax spenders?
Geoffrey Lawrence of the Nevada Policy Research Institute has provided a very telling analysis of how spending increases shot up, starting in 2006, exceeding what would have been connected to a reasonable formula of inflation costs plus population increases.
To a large extent the history of 2003 tax hikes resulting in more available money to spend, seems to have played a role in state government spending more. The same situation repeated itself with the tax increases of 2009 (except the authorized spending increases – presented publicly as “cuts”) are probably going to end up being real reductions because of the hole that has to be filled.
Government hasn’t gotten into the hole it has because taxpayers aren’t being taxed enough – the results show that we’ve got more taxes than can be paid already. Further increases or expansion of the tax burden won’t make what’s already too heavy any more affordable.
Some form of limits on government spending are essential, done either in the form of a restrictive system (like the Tax and Spending Control formula) or through the election of legislators who are more financially responsible than those who have been voting for the spending increases we’ve been getting.
Posted by Doug Busselman at 2/8/2010 10:07 AM 
Categories: Nevada Budget
Tags: Nevada Legislative Special Session Nevada Budget State Spending Taxes
Categories: Nevada Budget
Tags: Nevada Legislative Special Session Nevada Budget State Spending Taxes
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