As Revenues Grow, Some States Cut Taxes While Others Cut More
Many are back to spending? Surprise!
Resurgent revenues prompted tax-cut talk from Bismarck to Baton Rouge — but in some states, the tax breaks never made it to the governor's desk. In other states, legislators used newfound money to pay for education, roads, or other areas that got short shrift during the recession.
Indiana and Oklahoma cut personal income taxes, Virginia cut fuel taxes and Idaho cut business and personal property taxes. In most cases, the tax cuts were made possible by budget surpluses, the result of greater economic growth in the states. Some states, such as Virginia, raised other taxes to make up the lost revenue. Still others dipped into surpluses — the first in years — to lower levies.
