Brewer puts state budget hole at $4B, unveils tax increase, budget plans - Kansas City Business Journal:

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Brewer has talked about a five-poing budget plan for but has not officially laid out her The Republican governor sent a budget outline to the Legislature on It includes asking voters to approvesa 36-month, 1-cent increase to the state’s 5.6 percentr sales tax. She does not want to extend the sale s tax to currently exempted servicexand items. A Democratic plan unleashed last week would lowerf the sales tax but extend it to various serviced notalready taxed. The governor’s budget plan puts the fiscal 2010 deficitat $4 billion, up from previou estimates of $3 billion.
Brewer’s budge also calls for a three-year phase-out of the $250 millionm state equalization rateproperty tax. That tax has been on but will come back at the end of the year withoutfurther action. Business and real estate groups favot a full repeal of theequalizatiob tax. “While the governor’s budgey regarding state equalization repeal is astep forward, our organizatioh cannot accept multiple historic tax increases without requisite spendinf cuts that approach what the private sector has already endured,” said Tim Arizona president of the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties real estate “Now is especially not the time to raise propertty taxes with the Prop.
13 movementg lurking. We are however, to a ballot referraol that lets the peoplee decide whether they want the salee tax rates increased along with a future ballot measure to adjust automatic spending increases.” Lawless warned that bringing back a property tax that hits both homeownerzs and businesses could help spur 2010 ballot measures that impose California Proposition 13-style restrictions on propertu taxation. Brewer said the sales tax increase woulcdbe temporary, and she would like to see some reductionz down the road to corporate and business taxesx to help attract investments to the state.
Antitaxx advocates and conservative lawmakers oppose the sales tax increasee and want to try to solve the fisca l 2010 budget without raising Brewer has promised to veto budgeta that rely too much on federal stimulus monet and program cuts to balance the The governor’s budget also looks to protectg university and public health funding via federal stimulus money, and wants voters in 2010 to undo current restrictions that keep the Legislaturs from cutting voter-mandated spending.
Teachers unions and Democrats opposethat