corporate taxes

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The Week in Public Finance: Bad Balancing Acts, Best Taxpayer ROI and Double Taxation

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BY  | MARCH 31, 2017

Race to the Bottom?

New Jersey’s pension problems and Illinois’ lack of a budget continue to dog their reputation in the eyes of creditors.

In New Jersey, Moody's downgraded the Garden State one-notch this week to A3, citing the state’s “significant pension underfunding, including growth in the state's large long-term liabilities, a persistent structural imbalance and weak fund balances.”

It’s the 11th downgrade by a credit rating agency during Gov. Chris Christie’s more than seven years in office. Overall, New Jersey’s credit rating has fallen four notches under Christie’s watch, from what’s considered high investment grade to borderline medium grade. Meanwhile, the state's unfunded pension liability has climbed to $136 billion, which mean it has less than half of what it needs to pay its retirees down the road.

For its part, Illinois is the only state rated lower than New Jersey.

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What We Don't Know About Trump's Carrier Deal (and Most States' Business Deals)

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BY  | DECEMBER 8, 2016

Critics and supporters of Donald Trump’s deal that kept Carrier Corp. from exporting hundreds of jobs from Indiana to Mexico have spent much of the past week arguing about how many jobs the deal actually saved.

But what the public will likely never know is how much the deal helps the air conditioning company’s annual state tax bill. It's information that's typically not released but can reveal whether a tax incentive has the potential to bring a business' state tax burden down to zero.

Last week, President-elect Trump and Vice President-elect Mike Pence, who is still serving as governor of Indiana, announced a deal with Carrier that they say will keep 1,100 jobs in the state in exchange for $7 million in tax breaks over a decade. Since the announcement, unions have refuted the jobs number and said it’s closer to 800 since Carrier still plans to export 500 jobs to Mexico.

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Pleas for More Education Funding Fall Short on Election Day

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Voters in two states rejected measures that would have raised taxes -- either for consumers or corporations.
BY  | NOVEMBER 9, 2016

Voters in two financially-struggling states have struck down proposed tax increases that would have given more much-needed funding to education.

Public education was one of the biggest casualties of the Great Recession. Nearly a decade since it started, nearly half of states are still providing less general funding for schools than they were the year the economy tanked. But the rejections on election night reflect a feeling among taxpayers that governments are punting on a problem by passing on costs to them, rather than making their own difficult decisions.

In Oregon, which is facing a $1.3 billion deficit, voters shot down a proposal to impose a tax hike on corporations with more than $25 million in annual sales in the state. Opponents, largely corporations, called it a sales tax in disguise because they warned businesses would pass on the costs to consumers.

Pat McCormick, a spokesman for the campaign to defeat the tax, told the The Oregonian/OregonLive that Measure 97 "fell of its own weight when people understood what it would do."

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In Need of Education Funding, States Look to Customers and Corporations

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Tax-raising ballot measures this fall showcase the political power of corporations.
BY  | OCTOBER 21, 2016

Public education was one of the biggest casualties of the Great Recession. Nearly a decade since it started, nearly half of states are still providing less general funding for schools than they were the year the economy tanked.

Two states, however, are asking voters to boost education funding this fall -- but they differ on who should pay for it: customers or corporations.