Posted: 18 Mar 2010 10:40 AM PDT

_QR77 Newsroom
3/18/2010

Planet Election Guide: Property tax hike (Telluride Daily Planet)

Posted: 18 Mar 2010 08:12 AM PDT

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Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Property tax could come to village if gov’s budget proposal gets OK (Carol Stream Press)

Posted: 18 Mar 2010 07:16 AM PDT

Carol Stream officials have long said they do not want to implement a village property tax, but a budget proposal by Gov. Pat Quinn could force their hand.

On March 6, Quinn's budget director David Vaught said municipalities across Illinois must "share the pain" by giving up a portion of income tax revenue. Under Quinn's plan, instead of getting 10 percent, which amounts to about $1 billion a year statewide, municipalities would receive 7 percent.

For Carol Stream, it would mean a loss of about $941,000.

"We would have no choice," Trustee Pam Fenner said at Monday's meeting about levying a property tax. "Call your senators, call your state representatives and fight this with everything you have. Your pocketbooks cannot afford to come up with more money."

Mayor Frank Saverino Sr. said placing a property tax on residents would be "the most ugliest move we'd ever have to make."

"We won't have a choice," he said. "We have worked hours and hours with the staff looking at everything we can cut out. I don't know what else we could cut out, unless we let the streets go and let the town go downhill."

Village officials already have been battling a nearly $2 million budget deficit in 2011.

Earlier this month, the Carol Stream Village Board approved a 0.25 percent increase in the home-rule sales tax. The increase, expected to take effect July 1, will take the home-rule sales tax from 0.50 percent to 0.75 percent. The home-rule sales tax does not apply to food, medications or automobiles.

The village also is offering a voluntary separation program to its employees.

Commissioners from Carol Stream's Police Department and Fire Protection District have agreed to take a stipend reduction to help stave off the looming deficit. The compensation for the police and fire board commissions will change from $1,000 per fiscal year to $10 per meeting attended.

The chairman will receive $20 per meeting. The measure will save the village $2,500.

"Which doesn't sound like a lot," Village Manager Joe Breinig told village trustees at Monday's meeting. "But it matters significantly. It's nice to see the staff, appointed officials and the board working collectively to try and reduce costs."

Saverino said state legislators need to learn how to say 'no.'

"If you don't have it, don't spend it," he said. "You can't keep saying yes and giving it away and putting it on (the taxpayers') backs."

Staff writer Cyndi Loza contributed to this article.

Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Tax package shrinking, rental property sector smaller than first thought: English (ShareChat)

Posted: 17 Mar 2010 06:20 PM PDT

Finance Minister Bill English is talking down the size of the tax package for the May 20 Budget, saying Treasury analysis was finding a smaller contribution available from rental property tax changes than was estimated by the Tax Working Group.

The Victoria University-led TWG reported in January that up to $1.3 billion in tax could be raised.

"As (the Treasury) have done more work, their estimates of revenue have tended to come down," said English during questions at a Beehive press conference to launch the creation of a new Productivity Commission.

There was "significantly less than the TWG suggested", said English, who remained determined to change tax system anomalies that encourage a disproportionate amount of New Zealand's private investment into housing.

"The trade-offs are a bit tighter," said English of the capacity to use money raised from ending depreciation allowances on rental property to help fund personal tax cuts and offset an increase in the rate of GST to as much as 15%.

"It doesn't make any significant difference to the tax policy issues", which boiled down to lower than desirable effective tax rates for many rental property owners.

The TWG found that residential housing assets were worth some $200 billion, but rather than contributing to the tax base, the sector as a whole was receiving around $150 million in tax refunds annually because of the way the tax system currently works.

Businesswire.co.nz

Property Tax

Thursday, March 18, 2010

“Majority of Calgarians accept property tax assessments (AM770 CHQR)” plus 3 more

“Majority of Calgarians accept property tax assessments (AM770 CHQR)” plus 3 more

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