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...
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...
Small Tax Breaks’ Costs Add Up Over Time
Cleaning up expensive tax breaks is essential if we are going to invest in a stronger Kentucky and restore funding to our pension systems. The biennial Tax Expenditure Analysis (i.e....
Four Added Concerns About Kentucky’s Fiscal Outlook
The fact Kentucky has a severely underfunded pension system and that Gov. Matt Bevin plans to call a special session on the issue has been widely publicized. So has the...
TIF Creep Means Growing Costs, Less Accountability
Click to view as a PDF Tax increment financing (TIF) is a common method for financing economic development that uses increased tax revenues after property is redeveloped to help pay...
Angel Investor Tax Credit Program is an Overly-Generous Subsidy for Wealthy Investors
Kentucky’s angel investor tax credit program is touted as a way to encourage investment in start-up companies. But because it is overly generous to investors, fails to target start-ups exclusively...