REDUCING TAXES AND REGULATIONS
Small business and the entrepreneurial spirit are critical to the future growth of Ohio.
The Peirce administration will be dedicated to freeing the talent, capital, and hard work of Ohio’s entrepreneurs. The current tax and regulatory system penalizes Ohio business. This puts Ohioans at disadvantage, not only among other states, but internationally as well.
The first goal of the Peirce administration will be the reduction of the high tax burden in Ohio. This is the most important part of modernizing Ohio’s anti-business taxation system. The elimination of the tangible personal property tax and the estate or death tax are all key components to encouraging growth in the small-business sector of the economy.
To accomplish this goal, we will deliver the tax cuts recently planned by the Ohio legislature:
- A 21 percent across-the-board reduction on personal income taxes
- Complete elimination of the tangible personal property tax
- Partial elimination of the Ohio estate or “death” tax
- Elimination of the corporate franchise tax
And replace the Republican tax increases with further cuts:
- Eliminate the new tax called the Commercial Activity Tax applied on all gross sales made in Ohio This new tax includes all services, including legal and accounting services.
- Eliminate the rest of the estate tax.
- Reinstate the 10 percent property rollback on commercial/industrial property
- Eliminate the entire one-cent sales tax increase enacted that was set to expire in July, 2005.
- Decrease the cigarette tax $1 per pack
- Halve all tax rates on alcohol except spirituous liquor
- Eliminate the 2002 Trust Tax changes
- Decrease the Kilowatt Hour Tax by 30 percent
Ohio also needs to eliminate the Streamlined Sales Tax Project. This is an attempt to capture sales tax dollars lost to transactions made in other states. Under the plan, businesses will be required to track all sales that take delivery outside of their respective county and state. This a particular problem in Ohio since each county is allowed to add their own sales tax. The result is that small businesses must now know the sales tax rate of all 91 taxing jurisdictions in Ohio, plus any state they ship to.
WORKER’S COMPENSATION INSURANCE
Ohio has the 5th most expensive worker’s compensation insurance in the country according to Oregon’s Dept. of Consumer Services. Ohio’s dividend credit on workers’ compensation premiums masked systemic problems within the workers’ compensation system. Furthermore, Ohio Supreme Court rulings during the 1990s expanded benefits and increased costs while allowing for a greater amount of fraud.
No one expects the state of Ohio to provide car insurance or life insurance. Ohio needs to leave the insurance market, and allow market competition to drive down the cost of worker’s compensation insurance.
STATE SPENDING
The Peirce administration will cut both taxes and spending to keep a balanced budget. Reductions in spending will not be made arbitrarily to cut corners as previous Republican administrations have done. Spending reductions will be a natural result of a new customer-driven approach in state management. Increasing choices for our citizens will decrease spending.
Buckeye Institute’s Medicaid StudyIn 2003, the state legislature and Gov. Taft passed the largest tax increase in Ohio history and an 11 percent increase in spending. The budget’s two biggest cost-drivers, Medicaid and educational spending are devouring an ever-increasing sum of general revenue money, and the state leaders are faced with tough decisions to control these items. Ohio’s double-digit budget increases are unsustainable and small business is already over-taxed. Strong measures must be enacted to limit government spending.
Medicaid spending can be reduced by enhancing patient choice, increasing efficiency, and cutting special interest pork. Educational spending can be cut by giving parents and teachers real choices and decision-making authority in our schools.