Testimony: Local Option Sales Tax
Interim Joint Committee on Local Government Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you today. My name is Jason...
Budget & Tax
Kentucky’s Income Tax Critical to Preventing Deeper Budget Cuts
The recession and weak recovery combined with an inadequate state tax system have led to $1.6 billion in state budget cuts over the last few years. But the situation would've...
Cuts to Snap Would Hurt Kentucky
House Republican leaders are calling for even deeper cuts to nutritional assistance for low-income adults and kids after the cuts they considered last month didn’t go far enough for some...
Revenue Forecast Shows Continued Deterioration of State Tax System
The new long-term revenue forecast of the state’s Consensus Forecasting Group (CFG) suggests that Kentucky’s tax system will continue to deteriorate over the next four years, meaning tight funding for...
Graphic: New Revenue Wouldn’t Even Cover Basic Costs
The graphic below shows that the modest revenue growth recently predicted for the first year of the next budget ($259 million) is not enough to cover even Kentucky’s most basic...
Small Budget Surplus Provides Little Reason to Celebrate
Kentucky ended fiscal year 2013 with a $70.6 million surplus in the General Fund – about $30.6 million from lower-than-expected spending in a few areas and $40 million from revenue...
Budget Cuts Stack Up: Kentucky Faces the Eighth Largest Decrease in Federal Grants Among States
Kentucky will receive $162 million less in federal grant funding in 2013 than it did in 2012, according to a new brief by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI). The report...
Kentucky’s 2013 Revenue Growth Lower than Many Other States
While current trends suggest that Kentucky's General Fund revenue may exceed the official forecast for the year ending June 30, the state's revenue growth is less than what other states...
Underfunding Also Led to Shortfall in Local Government Pensions
The pension system for Kentucky local government employees has a shortfall even though local governments have been required to make their annual payments each year. Some are using this fact...
A Tax Shift Is Not Tax Reform
A key question in Frankfort is whether state leaders will enact tax reform between now and the end of the 2014 legislative session. But a challenge is the question posed...