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Voters to Consider Hundreds of Tax-Related Ballot Initiatives This November

1 min readBy: Joseph Bishop-Henchman

Each election, the National Taxpayers Union (NTU) produces its Ballot Guide, covering every statewide and local ballot initiative relating to taxes. This year’s guide (PDF) covers 24 statewide and 800 local initiatives in 12 states.

Significant initiatives include:

  • The most significant taxA tax is a mandatory payment or charge collected by local, state, and national governments from individuals or businesses to cover the costs of general government services, goods, and activities. -related initiative on the November ballot is Colorado‘s Proposition 103, which would raise the state income tax from 4.63% to 5%, and the state sales taxA sales tax is levied on retail sales of goods and services and, ideally, should apply to all final consumption with few exemptions. Many governments exempt goods like groceries; base broadening, such as including groceries, could keep rates lower. A sales tax should exempt business-to-business transactions which, when taxed, cause tax pyramiding. from 2.9% to 3%. The increases would total approx. $532 million per year.
  • Ohio has over 500 state and local initiatives, including a controversial referendum on the state’s law repealing collective bargaining for public employees (Issue 2).
  • Washington‘s Initiative 1183 will end the state’s monopoly on liquor retailing and instead set up a system of licensing private parties to sell liquor.

Also be sure to check out Ballotpedia, a great resource for ballot initiatives.

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