http://ozarkspub.vo.llnwd.net/o37/KSMU/audio/mp3/local-leaders-fight-sustain-veto-sb-509_82706.mp3
Two days after Gov. Jay Nixon made clear his intention to veto SB 509, local leaders came together on Thursday to express their support of the Governor, and begin the fight to push back against a possible veto override.
Representatives for Springfield and Nixa Public Schools highlighted the income tax cut bill’s potential effects on K-12 funding, specifically how it will hamper an already under funded Foundation Formula. Both say their schools will lose $6.5 million and $1.7 million each year, respectively, if this bill passes.
Springfield School Board member Gerry Lee says that state funding for local school districts is already $600 million under funded, and SB 509 would add another $223 million to that deficit.
“State cuts like this is gonna force local boards to go to their local voters to pass property tax increases to help support that loss of revenue. And in most cases, that’s not likely to happen,” Lee said.
Gov. Nixon has said that reducing the top personal income tax rate from 6 percent to an eventual 5.5 percent would reduce the state's general revenue by $4.8 billion annually.
His concerns were outlined in an analysis by tax expert Cheryl Block, who says the bill’s language “appears to completely eliminate to top state personal income tax bracket – Missouri taxable income of over $9,000.” The Republican-controlled Legislature that drafted the bill, however, has a different interpretation, as outlined by former Supreme Court Judge William Price. He believes that after full implementation of the reduction, the 5.5 percent tax rate would apply to all income over $8,000, rather than eliminate “all tax rates or all taxes upon any particular income.”
Spokespersons for the AARP and Southwest Center for Independent Living also cautioned Thursday against the bill. SCIL’s Shelby Butler fears a drop in state revenues will result in a drop in state funded services that disabled citizens who live independently rely on.
“We don’t want something negative to happen where down the line everyone is forced to go back into a nursing home or institution. That’s more costly to the state and it’s much more cost effective to keep people in their homes. And that can be strengthen the economy, when people are able to shop and work and live amongst each other to be able to provide for their families just like we do,” Butler said.
Missouri Senate President Pro Tem Tom Dempsey on Tuesday said he does not believe the Governor’s concerns are justified, adding that Nixon “would rather spend his time searching for technical issues than to constructively engage lawmakers on how to provide tax relief to thousands of Missourians.”
In audio posted to his website, Dempsey said Nixon is using all the same talking points that he did last year when vetoing a similar income tax cutting bill.
Officials Thursday admitted that should opponents of the bill be successful in preventing a veto override, the debate will still likely come up again next year. Nixa Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Stephen Kleinsmith said “we better have our perseverance intact,” adding that he and others will continue to be prepared to “defend what’s best for our country and our state.”