Predictably, tax-cut foes aren’t logical

Guest Opinion: Predictably, tax-cut foes aren’t logical

Kirk Adams
The East Valley Tribune
June 20, 2006
Rep. Kirk Adams represents District 19.


It’s the middle of June, and predictably the temperatures are well above 100 degrees. No one who has lived in Arizona for even a short period of time would reasonably expect anything different

Likewise, the arguments put forward by those opposed to broad-based tax relief are expected and predictable. Like Bill Murray’s character in the iconic movie “Groundhog Day,” they keep doing and saying the same things over and over. The fact that they are consistently wrong is no deterrent. A factual review of the Republican tax-relief proposal exposes the stale rhetoric of the tax-and-spend lobby.

For example, the $525 million in tax relief is little more than 5 percent of the total $10.1 billion budget. Furthermore, the entire amount of tax savings is derived from surplus money. State government collected nearly $1.5 billion in surplus revenue in the last fiscal year. This is money that was not expected, nor was it appropriated in the previous year’s budget.

Even with tax relief, state spending will increase by over 10 percent, not even accounting for needed onetime expenditures. K-12 education will see a nearly $600 million increase. This is in addition to $4 billion of state money it already receives and the millions more in federal dollars. Transportation needs will get $345 million, correctional officers will receive needed pay raises, and many other priorities will see significant increases. Moreover, the 10 percent increase in state spending this year is on top of the 36 percent increase over the last three years. Since 2003 the state budget has grown from $6.5 billion to over $10 billion. This highlights how modest this proposed tax relief really is.

Opponents of tax relief continue to assert that cuts are bad because they permanently obligate future budgets. However, they never seem concerned that spending on new or expanded government programs also obligates future budgets. New government programs bought with new spending will only grow and demand more resources over time. Tax relief actually returns dollars to state coffers by increasing economic activity.

Opponents have also raised the tattered red flag of public safety. They mistakenly state reductions in income taxes reduce the cities’ take of state-shared revenues, bringing imminent peril to the ranks of police and fire. The fact is the dollar amount cities receive will actually increase, barring an economic downturn. Should such a downturn occur everyone will feel its effect, with or without a tax cut. However, the most likely scenario is that Arizona cities will continue to receive more state shared revenue each year.

The Republican proposal will bring welcome relief to property owners laboring under the burden of drastically increasing property taxes. The Republican plan dedicates $210 million in property tax reductions. It cuts income taxes by 10 percent, benefiting families, consumers, and small businesses.

Musty rhetoric can obscure the facts only if we let it. Citizens of Arizona would do well to remember the words of that great Democratic statesmen, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, who said, “Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts.”