Brewer puts state budget hole at $4B, unveils tax increase, budget plans - Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal:

ysynut.wordpress.com
Brewer has talked abourt a five-point budget plan for but has not officially laid outher details. The Republicanm governor sent a budget outline to the Legislatureson Monday. It includes askintg voters to approvea 36-month, 1-cent increase to the state’as 5.6 percent sales tax. She does not want to extendf the sales tax to currentlyu exempted servicesand items. A Democratic plan unleashec last week would lower the salestax rate, but extend it to various services not already taxed.
The governor’ds budget plan puts the fiscal 2010 deficigtat $4 billion, up from previous estimates of $3 Brewer’s budget also calls for a three-yeaer phase-out of the $250 million state equalization rate propertgy tax. That tax has been on but will come back at the end of the year withoutfurthef action. Business and real estate groupws favor a full repeal of theequalizatiob tax. “While the governor’s budget regarding state equalizatiomn repeal is astep forward, our organizatio n cannot accept multiple historic tax increases without requisite spending cuts that approac h what the private sector has already endured,” said Tim Lawless, Arizonaw president of the National Association of Industrial and Officse Properties real estate group.
“Now is especiallyh not the time to raise properth taxes with the 13movement lurking. We are however, to a ballot referral that lets the peopled decide whether they want the salesa tax rates increased alony with a future ballot measure to adjusty automaticspending increases.” Lawlese warned that bringing back a propertgy tax that hits both homeowners and businesses could help spur 2010 ballot measures that imposwe California Proposition 13-style restrictions on property Brewer said the sales tax increase would be temporary, and she would like to see some reductionse down the road to corporate and business taxezs to help attract investments to the Antitax advocates and conservative lawmakers oppose the saled tax increase and want to try to solve the fiscal 2010 budget without raising taxes.
Brewer has promisex to veto budgets that rely too much on federa stimulus money and program cuts to balancethe budget. The governor’ss budget also looks to protect universitt and public health funding via federalstimulusa money, and wants voters in 2010 to undo current restrictionsa that keep the Legislature from cutting voter-mandatede spending. Teachers unions and Democrats opposethat