Taxes
Covering topics such as bonds, cryptocurrency, federal aid and pensions.
The state will need to reform its antiquated tax code, warily approach bond measures that tie the hands of policymakers, and get serious about spending oversight.
Bureaucratic, compliance-driven contracting systems do little to create sustainable and equitable communities. Done better, procurement could be a creative tool for problem-solving.
The increase in the Texas metroplex is more than double the average rise for U.S. cities. At 15.3 cents per kilowatt hour, it’s the highest average since the Great Recession. Experts predict prices will continue to increase.
Illinois and seven other states want the federal government to reinstate a pause on interest rates for loans used to pay unemployment benefits in the beginning of the pandemic. If left unpaid for a year, Illinois could owe $100 million in interest.
The rules for spending federal COVID-19 relief funds include a disinvitation to invention. State, local and tribal governments need to be able to try new things — and then stop some of them.
The state Department of Transportation has received a $10 million grant to transform an Amtrak station into a centralized transportation hub with retail opportunities and exhibits. The new station is expected to open in 2025.
A climate bill that is being negotiated in the U.S. Senate would dedicate $14 billion over the next decade to clearing vegetation and debris to prevent wildfires. More than 7 million acres burned in California in the last two years alone.
Populists are once again advocating the creation of state-owned banks to overcome private-sector lending market failures. But market innovations hold a lot of promise for accomplishing the same goal.
The federal government is sending billions to cities and counties to overcome pandemic setbacks. Plans from 150 local governments offer a preview of how these dollars might be spent.
Labor data suggests that Gov. Mike DeWine’s decision to cut the extra $300 of federal funds from unemployment benefits 10 weeks ahead of the federal deadline had little effect on moving people back into the workforce.
A report has found that low-income households in Detroit spend at least 25 percent of their disposable incomes on water and sewer bills. With inflation, water costs in Detroit have tripled between 1980 and 2018.
St. Louis County’s proposed 2022 budget is $43 million larger than this year’s, amounting to $463 million. The increase is projected to cause a 1.9 percent bump in property taxes.
Pembroke Park is determined to separate from the Broward County Sheriff’s Office even though the department building project is stalled and costs have increased. Now the town may not have its own force until 2023.
For rural communities like St. Helena, the billions the state will receive from the infrastructure bill for Internet and road repairs could have a massive impact. The community sits about 34 percent below the national income average.
Tennessee is projected to collect $655.2 million in the 2022 fiscal year through its gas and diesel taxes. As gas-powered vehicles give way to EVs, the state will need to make up the lost fuel-tax revenue.
CalEnviroScreen maps “disadvantaged communities” by Census tract to determine which communities will receive billions in public and private funding. But the mapping is imperfect, making many communities miss out on funding.
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