Our honorable legislators seem set to vote as early as Monday on a budget for the fiscal year that includes a $750 million sales tax hike and other unknown new taxes and fees. (Can they even spell transparency?) They argue that state government needs the money, but they are taking it from people whose income has grown less rapidly than the state’s. From 2005 through 2008, per capita personal income grew 7.9 percent after adjusting for inflation. The General Fund budget, what the state takes directly from taxpayers and spends on things other than transportation, grew 11.8 percent on a per capita basis, again adjusting for inflation. So state spending over the time period grew 50 percent faster than personal incomes. Now you know why they want a tax hike.
updated to clarify
