Final Budget and Tax Changes Spend More, Generate Less
The Kentucky General Assembly returned to Frankfort last weekend to finish its business for the 2018 regular session. With just...
Film Industry Tax Breaks Continue to Proliferate Despite Program Suspension
Since we last wrote in October 2017 about the proliferation of projects under the film industry tax credit, approvals have accelerated at an alarming rate and the cost of the program...
Quality and Equity of P-12 Education Will Continue to Decline with Funding in HB 200
While it remains to be seen how the Kentucky General Assembly will respond to Governor Bevin’s vetoes of their budget and revenue bills, the budget they passed does not represent...
House Bill 366 Represents a Tax Shift Away from the Wealthy to Low- and Middle-Income Kentuckians
During the waning hours on the last day of the session before the veto period, the General Assembly hastily passed House Bill 366, a bill that represents a shift of...
House Bill 6 Shortchanges Kentucky by Giving Huge Subsidies to Fund Managers, Banks and Insurance Companies
A proposal to establish a new business tax break – amended in the Senate to also expand and extend an overly generous subsidy, the angel investor tax credit program –...
HB 609 Would Provide Much-Needed Revenue for Roads in Kentucky Counties, Cities
There is a lot at stake for Kentucky communities in House Bill 609. This comprehensive funding bill would generate over $433 million a year when fully phased in to prop...
Significant Cuts Proposed for PVA Offices Will Harm Property Tax Revenues Statewide
Kentucky’s Property Valuation Administrators (PVAs) told a House Budget Review Subcommittee yesterday that the governor’s budget contains cuts of 23.5 percent to PVAs that would require layoffs of approximately 40...
Adequate Fund Balances are Crucial for Prudent School District Management and Should Not be Relied Upon to Make Up for State Funding Cuts
One of the ways the governor’s budget expects local school districts to make up for significant cuts he has proposed in state support for education, including transportation and teacher health...
New Tax Expenditure Report Obscures Growing Costs
The Office of State Budget Director (OSBD) released the Tax Expenditure Report for the 2018-2020 biennium late last month. The new report is misleading because it does not include in...
Film Industry Tax Credits are Growing Rapidly and Pose a Significant Threat to State Revenues
In a recent important article, the Lexington Herald-Leader examined the proliferation of Kentucky’s film industry tax credits. The state’s law allowing the credits was amended in 2015 to reduce the...