Despite Good Growth in 2015, Erosion Still Hurting Revenue
The good news is Kentucky’s economy grew faster in budget year 2015, and tax revenue grew with it — by...
State Tax and Budget
Retirement Income Growing Much Faster than Wages, Spelling Trouble for State Revenues
Kentucky must begin an active search for revenue options to begin fully paying down our pension debt and make public investments that will move the state forward. One issue that...
Road Fund Helped by 2015 Fix but Still Feeling Funding Challenges
Kentucky ended budget year 2015 with a $20 million shortfall in Road Fund receipts, meaning slightly less money has come in than what was budgeted to invest in and maintain...
Year-End Revenues Highlight Importance of Individual Income Tax
Kentucky ended its budget year with General Fund revenues $165.4 million more than anticipated, equaling growth of 5.3 percent from the year before. The individual income tax is the main...
Visual: Medicaid Expansion Helps, Not Hurts, State Budget
Through the Affordable Care Act (ACA), Kentucky expanded Medicaid eligibility to those with incomes up to 138 percent of the poverty line -- or $32,900 for a family of four...
April 15 Isn’t Popular, But Taxes Still Important
Few people like Tax Day. Filling out forms and mailing off checks doesn’t usually inspire reflection on the bigger purpose of taxes. Yet most people can agree on the priorities...
County, Rural Roads Will Lose Millions Without Gas Tax Freeze
The clock is ticking on the 2015 session and legislators have yet to guard Kentucky’s city and county roads and bridges from the consequences of a pending 5.1 cent drop...
Inaction on Gas Tax Will Drop Rate to Historically Low Levels
lf legislators end the 2015 session without preventing the pending 5.1 cent drop in the gas tax, the rate will fall to a level near its historic low over the...
Local Economies Harmed If Lawmakers Fail to Safeguard Road Fund
With just two days left in the 2015 General Assembly, legislators are running out of time to protect the Road Fund from another decrease in the motor fuels tax. On...
How Sentencing and Costs Compare in Heroin Bills
The following table shows how proposed changes to Kentucky’s current heroin trafficking laws—including the House’s new proposal from last night (SB 192)—would affect sentencing and corrections costs. Increasing sentences and/or...