Voters Speak On State And Local Taxes This Week
Texas voters gave themselves an $18 billion property tax cut. Homeowners in the Lone Star State can expect to see savings almost immediately under the just-passed Proposition 4. Tax assessors will send out revisions to mortgage companies by January. The measure exempts the first $100,000 of a homestead’s appraised value from taxation and cuts the property tax rate used for funding schools’ maintenance and operations budgets by 10.7 cents per $100 of property valuation.
Coloradans decide to keep the property tax status quo. The state ballot measure that called for slowing the increase in property taxes failed on Tuesday. Assessed home values in the state have jumped substantially in recent years. Voters did approve a different tax measure to continue using excess tobacco tax revenue to help fund the state’s new universal preschool program.
Salem, Oregon, voters said no to a payroll tax. The 0.814 percent tax would have applied to employees earning more than the minimum wage who work within city limits. It would have raised an estimated $27.9 million a year to help address the city’s projected budget deficits.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp extends suspension of state gas tax through November. The Republican governor issued an executive order this week to extend Georgia’s State of Emergency and continue to suspend the state’s gasoline tax through Nov 29.
Court tells crypto platform Kraken to release account data to IRS. Forbes reports that cryptocurrency exchange Kraken will, under court order, turn over user information requested by the IRS, as part of a legal battle that started in 2021. The IRS has argued that Kraken’s high rate of cryptocurrency trading indicates that many taxpayers have failed to report taxable earnings.
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