Governor Beebe: Property Tax Cut, Grocery Tax Cut, Excellence in Education First Missions in Office
Governor Beebe: Property Tax Cut, Grocery Tax Cut, Excellence in Education First Missions in Office
Monday, Jan 29, 2007
Governor Beebe: Property Tax Cut, Grocery Tax Cut, Excellence in Education First Missions in Office
My first two weeks in office have been quite eventful, and we plan to continue our momentum. After the inspiring inaugural events, it was time to get down to business and to attend to the tasks the people of Arkansas charged me with.
I know there are those who think we should use our increased revenue for a one-time tax break. But I believe we can do better for our State. I think we can use -this revenue as seed money for permanent, meaningful tax relief without negatively impacting state services.
There are those who think we should spend our increased revenue on one project or another, but I think it isn't ours to spend. This money belongs to the people of Arkansas, and they ought to get it back the same way they spent it. If they paid that money in taxes, then it ought to go back to them in the form of tax relief. We all share a common desire to move Arkansas forward and to offer help to those among us who need it the most. That desire is a noble one and should motivate us to work together toward a common end, never making the perfect the enemy of the good.
To that end, I plan to lower property taxes by expanding the Homestead Property Tax Credit from the current level of $300 to $350. Not only is this responsible tax relief, but it is also a way to promote home ownership by easing the burden of costs to current and future home owners. Home ownership is an integral part of the American Dream. Property tax relief also puts dollars back into local economies to help spur economic development and job creation.
I remain committed to phasing out the grocery tax with the first step a 50% cut. We have a moral charge to get rid of our State's most regressive tax: the state sales tax on food.
In addition to providing meaningful tax relief, I am also continuing the push for excellence in education. We can no longer be satisfied with the legal requirement of adequacy, but we must strive for the moral imperative of excellence. We must have excellence in pre-k, excellence in k-12, and excellence in higher education.
I have laid out a bold path for moving Arkansas forward. I ask again for your support and your help to accomplish these things. If we can all join together to accomplish our goals, others will look to us, and they will see Arkansas as a leader in the nation and the world and say, "We want to do what they have done in Arkansas."
http://www.governor.arkansas.gov/newsroom/index.php?do:newsDetail=1&news_id=28