2010 August Budget & Tax News (full text pdf)

Published August 1, 2010

The August 2010 issue of Budget & Tax News leads with a report on the tanning salon tax, which went into effect on July 1 and is the first of several taxes associated with the federal health care overhaul. Also in this issue:

  • Wisconsin officials have changed the location of a proposed high-speed rail station in an attempt to douse fiery criticism that the project is a boondoggle.
  • Washington state voters are being asked to approve a graduated state income tax that, according to Washington Attorney General Rob McKenna, would not be deductible from federal income taxes.
  • The Virginia Supreme Court is considering the constitutionality of special property taxes levied to fund Metrorail expansion. All residential property is exempted from the tax.
  • Is it a union pensions bailout or not? Is it $10 billion or $165 billion? These are some of the questions raised by Sen. Bob Casey’s Create Jobs and Save Benefits Act of 2010.
  • Many Indiana state agencies have implemented budget cuts of more than 20 percent, and if revenue keeps falling, so will spending, according to Indiana State Budget Director Christopher Ruhl.
  • Despite having nearly a decade to develop a comprehensive vehicle fleet management strategy, the District of Columbia’s Department of Public Works failed to do so, with predictably adverse results for taxpayers.