Local Taxes
Study: Tennessee Highest in Combined State and Local Sales Tax Rate
Jani McAllister browses through a sales rack outside a boutique in Atlanta. Georgia’s combined state and local sales tax rate is just under 7 percent. All but five states have sales taxes, along with many local governments. (AP) Tennessee has the highest combined state and local sales tax rate in the country at 9.44 percent […]
Texas Awaits Ruling on Franchise Tax’s Fate
Any day now, the Texas Supreme Court could rule that the state’s major business tax is unconstitutional. If it does, Texas lawmakers will have a major new budget problem to solve, while many Texans will not be shedding any tears. In 2006, the legislature modified the franchise tax that businesses pay, as part of a […]
North Carolina Limits Cities’ Ability to Grow
North Carolina cities, which have enjoyed broad annexation powers for more than five decades, will have a harder time absorbing surrounding areas thanks to a new state law the legislature approved in May. Before the new law took effect, North Carolina cities were allowed to amass unincorporated territory even over the objections of the residents […]
North Dakota Voters Sidestep Controversies
North Dakota voters shied away from several controversies at the polls Tuesday (June 12), including bids to eliminate property taxes, to prevent the University of North Dakota from dropping its “Fighting Sioux” nickname and to strengthen protections for people who claim government actions violate their religious beliefs. North Dakota was one of several states to […]
Summary of the Rhode Island State of the State Address
Gov. Donald Carcieri said Jan. 26 he would use his final year in office to revive Rhode Island’s economy through tax credits instead of tax increases and by continuing to cut government spending. The Republican, who is limited by law to two terms, reached back into Rhode Island’s history to emphasize a theme of economic […]
Tight Budgets, Rising Costs Squeeze States
Like an American tourist in Europe, states are seeing their dollars just don’t go as far as they used to. Not only was the amount of tax revenue states collected during the fourth quarter of 2007 the weakest in almost five years, but for the first time since the 1990s, inflation for state and local […]
Eight States Raised Taxes in 2004
Only eight states had to resort to hiking taxes in 2004 to balance their books, a sign that states’ fiscal squeeze may finally be over, researchers said in a new report released Nov. 22. The eight states — Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Rhode Island and Virginia — collectively raised $2.6 billion in […]