[Vision2020] Raise Our Taxes

[Kenneth Marcy]

On Friday 23 April 2010 10:22:13 lfalen wrote:
> I do not think it would be wise to raise the income tax or to
> increase taxes  on savings of any kind. I would not be that opposed
>  to a 0.5% increase in state sales taxes if it would go toward
> saving jobs in higher ed. This is provided that they first cut out
> the fat at the top.

Generally, I agree with what you're suggesting, but I would like to 
clarify that neither the income tax nor the sales tax rates must be 
raised. This year the Idaho legislature, at the Governor's behest, 
for the first time, ignored the fiscal forecast prepared by the state 
economist, and deliberately chose to lower the accepted revenue 
forecast for the entire state budget. Then, in robotic lockstep, the 
Legislature funded education at lower levels than previously for the 
first time in state history. Budget woes at the University of Idaho, 
and throughout Idaho education, will suffer in the next fiscal year 
not because of the chaotic wiles of the American economy, but at the 
behest of the curmudgeonly cruelty of a state political party lacking 
in leadership and fearful of various retributions from within itself 
for deviations from its own hive mentality.

So, the first action that needs to be taken toward better Idaho fiscal 
management is to respect and to accept the work of long-serving and 
successful state employees whose efforts doing the same economic 
forecasting work that has been not only acceptable, but 
well-respected and heeded, during past legislative sessions.

The second action that should be taken is a reevaluation of all of the 
Idaho income tax exemptions, the total value of which is greater than 
the receipts from the tax itself. For too long the legislature has 
been leaving money on the table, and ignoring both choices it should 
be making, and needs it should be fulfilling for Idaho citizens.

To accomplish these actions the legislature needs members who are both 
able and willing to speak to large, important issues relevant to the 
needs of this state, not playing to crowds in adjacent or far-away 
capitals. Raising whoop-dee-doo issues in Idaho that depend on the 
actions of the Federal government for their overall success is a 
waste of time, effort, and money for Idaho officials. Our people need 
to concentrate on finding optimal solutions for Idaho problems, not 
play-acting on media-mediated stages for others' entertainment.

> At the UI that means Baker, Mues and Daly-Laursen. There are also   
> several former Department Heads that only took a 15% decrease when 
> they stepped down. The former head of AVS teaches only one class   
> and advises students, but is paid more than the other AVS          
> professors. What a waste  of funds.
<[snip]>

As important as these issues may be for the management of one local 
institution, they are small spuds from the vantage point of the state 
budget. An institution's significant monetary problems can be best 
addressed at the state level, and it is there that cogent, effective 
voices must be heard for an institution's present and future.

Of course, this is not to minimize the need for effective local effort 
to understand and to manage with equity and integrity the people and 
resources that are available. The local executives' efforts should be 
coordinated with the Faculty Council, the City Council, and the Board 
of Regents toward these ends. The substantive contents, and who 
chooses the contents, of their decision-evaluating rubric remains a 
matter for discussion.


Ken