The Rush To Increase Taxes Might Be Premature
By: Doug Busselman, Executive Vice President
Few people who pay any attention to the Nevada Legislature are considering the upcoming 2011 session to be a walk in the park. Given the experiences of the past and the hype being given to how terrible the funding shortage is going to be – there is a bit of a panic involved in sizing up what a number of people believe will be a major mess (politically as well as financially).
Thanks to the step-back, take a deep breath, approach offered here by Geoffrey Lawrence and Patrick Gibbons at the Nevada Research Policy Institute we might want to think through this supposed crisis with something other than a mad rush to increase taxes. Having said that, there is a strong agenda taking shape with the leaders of the majority party to have a significant tax increase and tax structure expansion come from the 2011 Nevada Legislature. Projecting a sky-is-falling, woeful financial scenario will make “fixing” something much more logical.
The illogical approach, in spite of the hoopla, is to fix the tax stuff first. That’s the primary soundness of the multiple pieces that Geoff Lawrence has put out for public assessment and reform of the way that budgets are constructed. If you change from the automatic increase model of take whatever you think you spent and add a growth factor – you can start putting in place a much better, priority based budget system that explores spending choices and smart shopping to get you to a more fiscally responsible starting point.
Likewise, if the reforms being considered for the major spending area of education can be put into motion we will also start getting something for the money that is necessary to be spent. After all that is done – priorities selected and solid improvements made for what taxpayers get for their dollars…then (and only then) should there be a need to have a discussion on whether additional funds are required for Nevada’s revenue future. Some make take exception to the possibility that taxes might need to be dealt with (either keeping some expiring ones from expiring or increases in others), but in taking this approach of requiring necessary corrections first, you might have the chance that the tax increasers will be able to rush us blindly into a tax increase frenzy that doesn’t involve evidence of need or recognition that government spending isn’t a justifiable end to itself.
Few people who pay any attention to the Nevada Legislature are considering the upcoming 2011 session to be a walk in the park. Given the experiences of the past and the hype being given to how terrible the funding shortage is going to be – there is a bit of a panic involved in sizing up what a number of people believe will be a major mess (politically as well as financially).
Thanks to the step-back, take a deep breath, approach offered here by Geoffrey Lawrence and Patrick Gibbons at the Nevada Research Policy Institute we might want to think through this supposed crisis with something other than a mad rush to increase taxes. Having said that, there is a strong agenda taking shape with the leaders of the majority party to have a significant tax increase and tax structure expansion come from the 2011 Nevada Legislature. Projecting a sky-is-falling, woeful financial scenario will make “fixing” something much more logical.
The illogical approach, in spite of the hoopla, is to fix the tax stuff first. That’s the primary soundness of the multiple pieces that Geoff Lawrence has put out for public assessment and reform of the way that budgets are constructed. If you change from the automatic increase model of take whatever you think you spent and add a growth factor – you can start putting in place a much better, priority based budget system that explores spending choices and smart shopping to get you to a more fiscally responsible starting point.
Likewise, if the reforms being considered for the major spending area of education can be put into motion we will also start getting something for the money that is necessary to be spent. After all that is done – priorities selected and solid improvements made for what taxpayers get for their dollars…then (and only then) should there be a need to have a discussion on whether additional funds are required for Nevada’s revenue future. Some make take exception to the possibility that taxes might need to be dealt with (either keeping some expiring ones from expiring or increases in others), but in taking this approach of requiring necessary corrections first, you might have the chance that the tax increasers will be able to rush us blindly into a tax increase frenzy that doesn’t involve evidence of need or recognition that government spending isn’t a justifiable end to itself.
Posted by Doug Busselman at 5/1/2010 5:24 AM 
Categories: Nevada
Tags: Nevada Budget State Spending Taxes Government
Categories: Nevada
Tags: Nevada Budget State Spending Taxes Government
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