(5.15) Online petitions are all well and good, but you can really get the attention of your legislators by showing up in person and getting noisy. Head down to the State House rotunda and join Ocean State Action at ‘Tax Fairness Lobby Day.’ When the Carcieri tax breaks for the wealthy were instituted in 2006, …
From the Providence City Collector somewhere in this building, Some residents may have received their tax bills on or near the due date for the first payment. The City Collector will provide for a grace period wherein payments can be made without any interest added or assessed for the next 30 days to allow taxpayers …
On January 1, 2010, Washington, D.C. instated a 5¢ tax on plastic shopping bags. According to TreeHugger, within a month, plastic bag use had dropped from 22 million to 3 million per month, simultaneously generating $150,000 in revenue in the first month. The Washington Post reported, In its first assessment of how the new law …
Attention landlords and renters! The recent tax hike on non-owner occupied rental property affects the property owners and their tenants alike. It is well to remember that not many landlords around here are evil absentee tycoons — many are small investors. One such property owner has just contacted us here. Artist Peter Gemei has this …
UPDATE: It’s looking like a few different entities are heeding the call, including the Providence City Council, and the City of Woonsocket. This is very good news, which’ll help keep the schools funded and the streets plowed. Updates to follow. ORIGINAL, 2/03: Would somebody please sue the State over this already? Essentially, Rep. Scott Guthrie …
Brian Hull has been doing a great job with RIFuture since he started managing it a couple of months back. He has a comprehensive post which responds to the new RIPEC study on taxes, and the really counterproductive, absolutely false, notion that RI is out of whack in terms of revenues it collects. In fact, …
Holy Hell! Rhode Island’s Tax Burden Is Pretty Much Normal? Read More »
I’ve been writing for the Huffington Post here-and-there of late. Just authored this piece with my FairVote colleague Rob Richie. John Gideon was a prominent voting rights activist who sadly passed on Monday night. Rob proposes a “Gideon Initiative” which would rein in voting equipment contractors — who stymie electoral reform, increase chances of malfeasance, …
Organizers are staging a national Tax Day Tea Party tomorrow as a grassroots protest of the overspending of our current administration. (No outrage regarding two wars that’ll have cost taxpayers $864 billion by the end of this fiscal year, though.) On one hand, I admire when people seek change for issues they feel strongly about. On …
The vote on the supplemental budget, whose purpose is to close RI’s fiscal ’09 deficit, is scheduled for this Wednesday. It’s stirred up a lot of ire, largely because it takes away more than $55 million from cities and towns. To put that in loose perspective — Providence would lose about $16 million. The city’s …
Citing as inspiration the ravings of aggrieved hedge fund veep, tv “journalist,” and self-proclaimed everyman Rick Santelli, a bunch of Republico-“populist” types are going to be rallying at the State House on Tax Day. These jokers are claiming the mantle of the silent majority, as they oppose a stimulus plan that a large majority of …
Employment Opportunity: Torch And Pitchfork Salesman Read More »
Well, why not? Since prostitution is legal in Rhode Island, shouldn’t we be taxing it? Today’s ProJo reports that the general assembly is trying to tax its way out of a big, deep hole and is considering some new categories such as bowling, haircuts and opera. (Not my opera!) Although I do see something in …
Perhaps more than anybody else in the state, Tom Sgouros has the right to say ‘I told you so.’ Here’s his bleak RIFuture column. As the Finance Committee meets to affirm that there aren’t any pleasant answers. The state budget chickens are coming home to roost. After five years of self-inflicted fiscal crises, we finally …
We can take some solace in knowing that we’re not the only ones in this boat: New York is looking at a $47 billion deficit over the next 4 years. California is at $11-billion plus for the current year, with even Conan over there calling for a special session of the legislature to raise some …
I don’t pretend to know the ins and outs of the race he just lost — but Gorham is dead-on about the need for consolidation of services. (Though not the towns themselves.) And Nick probably would’ve been wise to have held some focus groups before deciding on the name Westconnaug. Gorham feels vindicated He is …
This is swiped from Peter Asen, at RIFuture: The Governor just fessed up to his hopes of eliminating the income tax and completely undermining the progressive currents of RI’s tax code — which fail to countervail its regressive tide — effectively forcing increases in sales and property taxes: As Pat wrote below, the Governor doesn’t …