Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Tax Issues Touted

PERCY MALONE

STATE REPRESENTATIVE, DIST. 36

During legislative sessions, much of our time and energy is focused on how to be good stewards of taxpayer dollars. As chairman of the Joint Budget Committee, I probably spend even more time on those issues than does the average legislator. Several specific issues related to revenues and how to spend them will be important throughout this legislative session.

Since the fall campaign season, reform of our property tax system has been an important topic. A variety of proposals will be considered during this legislative session, all aimed at making our system more fair. I will carefully review all the proposals and consider which one will provide the most significant relief, first to our seniors and low-income citizens, while at the same time preserving this critical source of revenue for our schools and other local services.

I strongly support some kind of reform to our property tax system, but I will not support any attempt to abolish property taxes. Our schools simply cannot afford to operate without this funding.

Another pressing issue to be considered during this legislative session is how to improve our state's highways. Before this issue is resolved, many proposals will be discussed and debated. These will likely range from an all-interest plan that has already been introduced to one that includes significant amounts of rural highway miles.

As I talk to people throughout the area, most seem to favor a highway program that offers repairs and upgrades to county and state roads in Southwest Arkansas. But this issue is not just one of what work needs to be done. We must also determine how we will fund any planned improvements. I am committed to working for a plan that includes a fair approach to funding, with the heaviest users paying the greatest share of the expenses.

Another taxation issue involves a proposal to remove the sales tax from groceries. I support removing this tax from something as essential as food. Families on a fixed income should not have to take out a $1 from every $20 they spend on groceries to pay taxes. However, the challenge will be how to replace the lost revenue in a way that doesn't place another undue burden on our citizens.

In an effort to ensure that all of us responsible for taxpayers' dollars are accountable, state government agencies may soon be involved in a pilot program that would base agency and program budgets on their performance or how well they met their objectives. This would allow legislators to compare agencies' objectives against what they actually accomplished when considering budget requests for the next two-year cycle.

Without this kind of performance-based budgeting, state agencies often have a difficult time measuring their success. I truly believe this legislation will allow those of us involved in the budget process to do a much better job of allocating taxpayer dollars to programs that provide a good return on our investment.

As you consider these and other issues that are before the General Assembly, I hope you will contact me anytime you have a concern or issue of interest you would like to discuss. You can reach me at the Capitol at 501-682-6211, or e-mail:

pmalone@arkleg.state.ar.us