The July 2009 issue of Budget & Tax News leads with a report that Chicago’s privatization of Midway Airport—a $2.5 billion deal—has fallen through after the winning bidder could not arrange financing to complete the transaction.
Also in this issue:
* State sales tax revenues have experienced their worst decline in 50 years, and overall state tax revenues are likely to continue to fall.
* Manipulation of budgeting processes and use of unsound accounting principles are enabling lawmakers to evade constitutional and statutory mandates for balanced budgets.
* President Barack Obama proposes to limit the ability of U.S. companies to write off expenses and defer from taxation profits they earn overseas, resulting in a big tax hit critics say will make U.S. firms less competitive.
* The federal government is considering converting billions of dollars of preferred stock in banks to common shares with voting rights, worrying investors and tax watchdogs alike.
* A federal commission is recommending relying less on fuel taxes and more on congestion pricing and taxing miles traveled to fund highways.
