This year's tax ballot measures. In gifs.
Happy Finance Friday, readers! I’ll be honest — it’s been a long week and I’m fried. So instead of forcing it, I’m going to have some fun. This Tuesday is Election Day and even though it’s an odd-numbered year, there are always at least a few state ballot measures to pay attention to.
There are plenty of hardworking experts and journalists who have already spent time analyzing and writing about them so I’m not going to repeat their work. Instead, I’ll link to their pieces and supplement it with gifs that I think sum up the situation nicely.
Here we go.
Property tax relief
Texas’s Proposition 4 would increase the state’s homestead deduction from $40,000 to $100,000 and transfer state funds (boosted by recent revenue growth) to local governments for further property tax cut. “The measure,” writes the Urban Institute’s Richard Auxier, “was the result of an angry and drawn-out political fight in Austin, but the resulting initiative is relatively easy for voters to understand.”
In Colorado, Proposition HH is pretty complex but here are the bare bones: When the state exceeds its revenue cap, triggering taxpayer refunds, some of that money would instead be diverted to local governments for property tax relief.
Taxing Pot
Ohio voters will decide whether to legalize marijuana this Tuesday. If approved, Issue 2 would also enact a 10% tax on cannabis sales. Marijuana does pretty well at the ballot box but even so, warns Auxier, the vote does not end the debate. “[S]tate legislatures routinely alter marijuana laws after successful ballot measures,” he writes. “Indeed, Ohio Republicans are already talking of changing how cannabis tax revenue is spent if voters approve the ballot measure.”
Columbus Dispatch: Michigan marijuana shops make money off Ohio consumers. Issue 2 could change that
Income taxes
Texas doesn’t tax any income. But just to be sure things don’t get all “Blue State-y,” Proposition 3 would amend the state’s constitution to prohibit legislators from enacting a wealth tax. One local politician told Texas’ KAGS station it’s “a proactive measure to protect the growth of Texas.”
Not taxing income is so cental to Texas’s identity, the ballot measure does more virtue signaling than anything else. Still, it would prevent any future mulling of specialized taxes on investment income. For many years, Tennessee did not tax general income but did levy taxes on interest and dividends. Those taxes were finally phased out in 2020.