Taxes
Covering topics such as bonds, cryptocurrency, federal aid and pensions.
Now 25,000 members strong, financially secure and long blessed with thoughtful leadership, the Government Finance Officers Association is poised to address the challenges to come for those who manage the public purse.
The City Council has unanimously approved the task force, which would research the history and the effects of slavery in Boston and then assess and advise the city on next steps. The mayor must sign off for it to become law.
When the governor-elect was serving as Montgomery County commissioner, he streamlined the county’s half-billion-dollar retirees pension plan. Some wonder if the state’s retirement plan will get a similar redo.
An analysis of nearly 92,000 Road Home grants statewide found that the program to help homeowners rebuild after hurricanes Katrina and Rita gave more funding to wealthier neighborhoods than low-income ones.
Approximately 20 percent of households have some amount of medical debt, and they are disproportionately Black and Latino. A few local governments have teamed up with a nonprofit to unburden their residents’ finances.
The Department of Revenue has launched an online system that allows taxpayers to view their state tax obligations and payments. Officials expect the state to save $10 million annually with the new platform.
The federal government released guidelines on how to spend its $2.3 billion in Amtrak expansion money, but it’s not yet clear if Ohio will build new passenger rail service between its major cities.
Federal legislation requiring machine-readable reporting has its critics, but it would go a long way toward modernizing how data is collected, used and shared. It also could lower borrowing costs for states and localities.
Inflation is pressuring state and local employers to grant big cost-of-living increases. But they’ll need to keep in mind the prospect of diminishing revenues in coming fiscal years.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced a bipartisan agreement to fill the financial hole in the state’s unemployment insurance trust fund, which once stood at $4.5 billion, that was depleted by the pandemic.
It’s not just about the dollars but about spending the money effectively. The focus should be on reducing costs for the private companies that provide most of the investment, rather than propping up sickly projects.
The Business Outlook Survey found that 75 percent of respondents believe that the state’s leaders have fallen short in improving affordability for businesses; 82 percent said the state is somewhat unaffordable for companies.
Nearly one-third of state senators sponsored legislation earlier this year to phase out state income tax over the next 10 years, though the bill is unlikely to pass. The state received $10.8 billion from income taxes last year.
They face many a myriad of negative outcomes, ranging from homelessness to involvement with the criminal justice system and unplanned pregnancies. But one county’s approach shows promise in helping these youth build better lives.
Lots of governors have their eyes on the Oval Office. Most of the action will be among Republicans who will be zeroing in on Democratically controlled cities to score points on issues ranging from immigration to crime to spending.
The 77 Committee is allowed to accept unlimited funds because it is not bound by the same city ethics rules that the Chicago mayor must abide by. The committee cannot coordinate with Lightfoot or political campaigns.
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