Cali sales tax FYI

[BDashe 0]

In SFO as of April first sales tax is INCREASING to 9.5%, or 1-1.5% state wide. It is said to generate a few $billion more for the state (duh).

This is coming from the governator i believe, who i do like, however this is a prime example of why politicians cant get their hands into business- all they know is tax, spend, cut. If they don't have enough money, they make it illegal not to pay them. Imagine if it were that easy for businesses! They just have no REAL concept of how our universe here in the real world actually works...

Thoughts?

So there I was...

Making friends and playing nice since 1983

[lummy 4]

did you have any other realistic ideas on how to balance the state budget other than tax increases?

I promise not to TP Davis under canopy.. I promise not to TP Davis under canopy.. eat sushi, get smoochieTTK#1

[downwardspiral 0]

A reduction of overhead. An increase in sales tax will only (further) encourage consumers to purchase online from out-of-state e-tailers.

www.FourWheelerHB.com

[BDashe 0]

focus on cuts, that's what the rest of the country in the real world is doing.

the real point of my post is where do state and federal lawmakers get off telling businesses what to do, when the only skillset they know how to use to fix a problem is force all of us to pay.

If they don't know anything about a topic, stay out! I understand if they have an interest in a company from the bail outs, just as any stockholder would. But everyone else?

i guess it is like this- i understand why my boss tells me to do something- he has experience and the know-how to make things work, where do these professional vote-generators get their justification?

So there I was...

Making friends and playing nice since 1983

[downwardspiral 0]

You forgot to mention they are doubling vehicle registration fees.


I really love the weather here but the option to move is looking better and better.

www.FourWheelerHB.com

[kelpdiver 2]

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focus on cuts, that's what the rest of the country in the real world is doing.

The final solution was a balance of cuts and temporary (at least for the sales tax increase) taxes. It was not realistic to fix the shortfall with only one or the other.

Arnold's primary solution to the longer standing problem is attempting to slow the growth in expenditure during the boom years. But that doesn't solve the immediate problem.

[dreamdancer 0]

rather than increasing the sales tax a fairer way to raise revenue would be to increase the estate tax

stay away from moving propellers - they bite
blue skies from thai sky adventures
good solid response-provoking keyboarding

[BDashe 0]

again, the main point of my post is that the government officials have no working knowledge of the business world, how is it that they can stand on their high horses and dictate policy that disrupts the biggest contributors to our regular economic process?

We could go on and on about the taxes, of which 10% sales and 10% income is RIDICULOUS for a state to collect... but i'm curious to your opinion on what i previously stated.

So there I was...

Making friends and playing nice since 1983

[chuckakers 426]

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A reduction of overhead. An increase in sales tax will only (further) encourage consumers to purchase online from out-of-state e-tailers.

Which will in turn lead to companies leaving California. If there's any left there.

Chuck Akers
D-10855
Houston, TX

[DrewEckhardt 0]

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did you have any other realistic ideas on how to balance the state budget other than tax increases?

Slash per-capita spending so the money going out is in-line with other states.

Colorado does fine on all counts with a 4.63% flat income tax rate (using federal taxable income, where personal exemptions are $3650 and not the $294 you get in California, and Colorado property is exempt from capital gains) and sales tax just 2.9%.

Washington state doesn't have enough highways but otherwise does OK with a top income tax rate of 0% and sales tax rate of 6% apart from the roads getting too crowded.

In California, it's 9.55+1.1% SDI on income and 8.25% on sales. Both rates are the highest in the nation.

The property tax rate looks OK - just 1% of assessed value plus voter approved bonds but assessed value starts at the last sales price and the obscene cost of real estate in pleasant neighborhoods close to jobs means the amounts are 3-7X other areas. In allegedly expensive Boulder, CO as of 2006 I paid $1500/year on a modest town home I sold for $266K. A similar property in Washington cost me $425K to buy and $2880/year in taxes. Something similarly located near jobs, dining, and good schools could exceed $1M and over $10K/year in taxes.

[BDashe 0]

Hmmm... responsible spending? What a novel idea!!! I wonder who else in the government could use a pointer like that... he he he

Anyone have thoughts on professional bureaucrats making corporate policy?

So there I was...

Making friends and playing nice since 1983

[TheBachelor 5]

The problem is that if there is any extra money coming in, the politicians find "recurring" ways to spend it. That is, even though it's a one-time surplus, they put things into place that require funding every yeat. State spending has increased 40 percent since Arnold took office. Now when they have to cut back, everyone is protesting it as unfair.

I wish it were as easy as saying "you can't spend more than you take in." If the budget shortfall is 10 percent, then there is a 10-percent across-the-board cut on the budget.

There are too many people with their hands out. The SEIU union just got an increase in pension benefits while they got a reduction in contributions.

Increasing taxes the way they did is idiotic. California has 10%+ unemployment, and foreclosure rates are among the highest in the nation. Doubling the car tax hits everyone, employed or not. Raising the sales tax just makes buying from out-of-state internet stores more appealing, and ultimately harming the brick-and-morter stores here. I believe they even reduced a per-child credit, which once again hits everyone hard.

Hey, but if you're an illegal immigrant, the state will subsidize your college tuition by giving you in-state tuition rates.

There are battered women? I've been eating 'em plain all of these years...

[kelpdiver 2]

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again, the main point of my post is that the government officials have no working knowledge of the business world, how is it that they can stand on their high horses and dictate policy that disrupts the biggest contributors to our regular economic process?

Plenty of politicians have working knowledge of the business world. The Mayor of SF is one such example. But the experience level is part of how candidates are selected by the voters. We get what we ask for.

And to put it back on you - what solution did you actually have to do with the problem at hand? You can talk about the long term problem, but that's not really useful right now.

[headoverheels 334]

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rather than increasing the sales tax a fairer way to raise revenue would be to increase the estate tax

That will only work if we can convince more people to die immediately. Okay for long term, though.

[BDashe 0]

you talking about the budget problem or the inexperience of the politicians in what they are politiking over?

deficit? kill the programs that are BS- tough to do in this state of spend-aholics, but if i had absolute power, i slash the crap out of useless programs.

retarded politicians? ummmm, move somewhere else, i can't change the way the lemmings vote...

So there I was...

Making friends and playing nice since 1983

[kelpdiver 2]

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deficit? kill the programs that are BS- tough to do in this state of spend-aholics, but if i had absolute power, i slash the crap out of useless programs.

Sounds like Perot's campaign - with no actual substance behind it. CA's budget isn't littered with ten billion dollar useless programs.


http://www.ebudget.ca.gov/pdf/BudgetSummary/SummaryCharts.pdf

This is the summary statement on the budget - give us something more tangible on how you (or any "real" businessman would fix the problem.

[akarunway 1]

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You forgot to mention they are doubling vehicle registration fees.


I really love the weather here but the option to move is looking better and better.

Don't forget the families too. 2/3 cut for child deductions.

I hold it true, whate'er befall;
I feel it, when I sorrow most;
'Tis better to have loved and lost
Than never to have loved at all.

[shermanator 4]

sad thing is, we got rid of Davis because arnie promissed *arnie voice* I will not raise taxes*

as for the car tax, anyone remember the other reason he was elected, oh yeah.. to overturn the registration tax that Davis put in place.

The Feds are talking about how they are going to lower taxes, and make it easier on us, and only thing california can do is raise taxes in a time of depression..

CLICK HERE! new blog posted 9/21/08
CSA #720

[BDashe 0]

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deficit? kill the programs that are BS- tough to do in this state of spend-aholics, but if i had absolute power, i slash the crap out of useless programs.

Sounds like Perot's campaign - with no actual substance behind it. CA's budget isn't littered with ten billion dollar useless programs.


http://www.ebudget.ca.gov/pdf/BudgetSummary/SummaryCharts.pdf

This is the summary statement on the budget - give us something more tangible on how you (or any "real" businessman would fix the problem.

Thanks for the "General Fund Expenditures" link buddy. I have a feeling the CA expense budget contains more than 14 lines. Like I would say "Let's cut education" or "Cut all transportation costs" You dont have to be a genius to realize that within all these general groups some trimming could take place. I'm sure the details of each category broken down run in the hundreds of pages, of which I'm not going to go line by line to prove to you we could cut costs, that's what our elected officials are SUPPOSED to be doing. You honestly feel that every dime we're spending is necessary?!

Unfortunately, everyone's agenda is more important than everyone else's so all the crap stays in. So when asked what i would do? If the government could be run like a business and people couldn't whine about their save the whales campaign being cut from the budget and i was CEO and chief executive I WOULD CUT SPENDING ON UNNECESSARY PROGRAMS.

So there I was...

Making friends and playing nice since 1983

[georgerussia 0]

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The Feds are talking about how they are going to lower taxes, and make it easier on us, and only thing california can do is raise taxes in a time of depression..

Well, let's be honest with ourselves - didn't Californians vote for a bunch of crazy spending projects just less than four months ago?

Call me an asshole, but I fully support those changes. Unlike income tax increase, the increase in sales and car tax will make every voter here pay for what they voted for. Hopefully next time more people will think money before they approve yet another multi-billion project in the middle of recession.

* Don't pray for me if you wanna help - just send me a check. *

[georgerussia 0]

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Sounds like Perot's campaign - with no actual substance behind it. CA's budget isn't littered with ten billion dollar useless programs.

Those programs are not useless. They are just something we could survive without until the economy gets better. It is like upgrading your 5-year old container with a new skyhook-equipped Vector 3. Is it useless? No. But is it really necessary? No, it could wait.

Completing the BART loop is just one example of what could be definitely put on hold right now. Another example is seismic retrofitting.

* Don't pray for me if you wanna help - just send me a check. *

[dreamdancer 0]

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rather than increasing the sales tax a fairer way to raise revenue would be to increase the estate tax

That will only work if we can convince more people to die immediately. Okay for long term, though.

statistically, people are dying all the time - we don't have to speed up the process

stay away from moving propellers - they bite
blue skies from thai sky adventures
good solid response-provoking keyboarding

[kelpdiver 2]

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Sounds like Perot's campaign - with no actual substance behind it. CA's budget isn't littered with ten billion dollar useless programs.

Those programs are not useless. They are just something we could survive without until the economy gets better. It is like upgrading your 5-year old container with a new skyhook-equipped Vector 3. Is it useless? No. But is it really necessary? No, it could wait.

Completing the BART loop is just one example of what could be definitely put on hold right now. Another example is seismic retrofitting.

More than half the budget is education and prisons. You can cut them, but they're not going away. I don't see retrofits that are 20 years after Lomo Prieta as a waste or a mistimed expense. BART extensions could wait; however I suspect Cal could get a lot of federal dollars right now, so it's probably better to do it now. And we know that delays only increase costs - the Bay Bridge debacle being the prime example.

And when the shortfall was measured in the 10s of billions, versus a total budget of 100B, there just isn't that kind of wasteful spending to eliminate.

As I've tried to explain, the problems of growing the budget during the boom is essentially out of scope for the immediate problem of WTF to do now, esp with the inexperienced legislators in Sacramento.

Stupidly waving hands around and saying no business person would do this isn't really an answer, though I'm sure it feels good to type and hit the post button.

[georgerussia 0]

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More than half the budget is education and prisons. You can cut them, but they're not going away.

Cuts is what we're talking about. Of course we'll hear more whines from community college students about increased tuition, but times are tough and there are no money. They could as well complain to the people who voted for those spending projects before. Very likely those will include their parents and maybe even themselves.

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I don't see retrofits that are 20 years after Lomo Prieta as a waste or a mistimed expense.

It is not waste, it is just not critically needed right now. I haven't seen recent statistics on seismic retrofitted residential buildings, or on earthquake insurance purchases but last time I heard those numbers (2007) they were still quite low. And looking on current economy conditions I would be really surprised to see them greatly improved. This means if a serious earthquake (the one retrofits are protecting from) happen tomorrow, the whole Bay Area is going to be in a deep shit anyway. That's why those retrofits could be postponed.

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BART extensions could wait; however I suspect Cal could get a lot of federal dollars right now, so it's probably better to do it now.

There are a lot of things which are needed right now, and BART extension could definitely wait.

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And we know that delays only increase costs - the Bay Bridge debacle being the prime example.

Most of those increases should be attributed in wage increase, more environmental friendly materials and practices, improved safety - which is good thing, and worth paying for. Also the money gets cheaper as well.

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As I've tried to explain, the problems of growing the budget during the boom is essentially out of scope for the immediate problem of WTF to do now, esp with the inexperienced legislators in Sacramento.

The legislators in Sacramento are busy trying to get their terms extended, so state budget has lower priority now.

* Don't pray for me if you wanna help - just send me a check. *

[BDashe 0]

No intelligent person with a business mind would run the state or country this way.


Oh god that felt so good, i can't wait to hit post and finish my joygasm!

I apologize that my opinion differs from yours...

edit: +1 georgerussia

So there I was...

Making friends and playing nice since 1983