Welcome to
www.dalefogden.net
I'm Dale F. Ogden, Libertarian
I'm for Maximum
Freedom,
Minimum
Government, Minimum Taxes
www.dalefogden.org
Richard Rider is a hard-working
advocate for the Taxpayer
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Breaking
Bad: California vs. the Other States Updated version online
at: www.RiderBlog.NotLong.com Here’s a depressing
but documented comparison of California taxes and economic climate with the
rest of the states. The news is breaking bad, and getting worse (I keep
updating this fact sheet): California has the 3rd
worst state income tax in the nation. 9.55% tax bracket starts at $46,349 for
people filing as individuals. 10.55% tax starts at $1,000,000 http://www.taxfoundation.org/files/bp59_es.pdf By far the highest state
sales tax rate in the nation. 8.25%. 7% is next highest (does not include
local sales taxes) http://www.taxfoundation.org/files/bp59.pdf
Table #15 California corporate
income tax rate (8.84%) is the highest west of the Mississippi (our economic
competitors) except for Alaska. http://www.taxfoundation.org/files/bp59.pdf
Table #8 -- we are 9th highest nationwide. California’s 2010
Business Tax Climate ranks 48th in the nation. http://www.taxfoundation.org/files/bp59_es.pdf Fourth highest capital
gains tax 9.55% http://www.thereibrain.com/realestate-blog/capital-gains-tax-rates-state-by-state/109/ Highest gasoline tax (averaging
67.4 cents/gallon) in the nation, 4 cents above second place Hawaii (July, 2010).
http://www.api.org/statistics/fueltaxes/
(also highest diesel tax) California is ranked 14th
highest in per capita property taxes (including commercial) – the only
major tax where we are not in the worst ten states. But CA property taxes per
home were the 10th highest in the nation in 2008. http://www.taxfoundation.org/taxdata/show/251.html
and http://www.taxfoundation.org/taxdata/show/1913.html One of the highest state
vehicle license car taxes. 1.15% per year on value of vehicle, up from 0.65%
in 2008. California’s 2010
“Tax Freedom Day” (the day the average taxpayer stops working for
government and starts working for oneself) is the 7th worst date in the
nation – up from 28th worst in 1994, but down from 4th worst last year
CA “improved” only because of our state’s soaring
unemployment rate – the new tax dodge! http://www.taxfoundation.org/research/show/387.html In 2009, 24 states
raised their taxes at least 1% to collect $28.6 billion. California’s
taxes went up about $11 billion – thus we were responsible for about 38.5%
of all the state tax increases in the nation. http://tinyurl.com/2009-CA-Tax-Increase-rank California has the 3rd
highest unemployment rate in the nation. (July, 2010) 12.3%. National
unemployment rate 9.5%. http://www.bls.gov/news.release/laus.nr0.htm California needlessly
licenses more occupations than any state – 177. Second worst state is
Connecticut at 155. The average for the states is 92. http://cssrc.us/publications.aspx?id=7707 For the 2007-08 school
year, the Los Angeles Unified School District spent $$29,780 per student. The
district also has the country’s second lowest graduation rate of 40.6%.
http://www.calwatchdog.com/2010/08/20/lausd-spends-30k-per-student/ CA public school
teachers the 2nd highest paid in the nation after NY. The average 2008-09 CA
educator salary was $69,093 – 7.25% higher than the previous
year’s $64,424 average. http://www.nea.org/assets/docs/010rankings.pdf
Page 21, table C-18 1 in 5 in Los Angeles
County receiving public aid. http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-welfare22-2009feb22,0,4377048.story California has 12% of
the nation’s population, but 36% of the country’s TANF (“Temporary”
Assistance for Needy Families) welfare recipients – more than the next 7
states combined. Unlike other states, this “temporary” assistance
becomes much more permanent in CA. http://weblog.signonsandiego.com/weblogs/afb/archives/034662.html California prison guards
highest paid in the nation. http://www.caltax.org/caltaxletter/2008/101708_fraud1.htm California is the worst
ranked state for tax administration – another anti-business factor. http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/capitolalertlatest/2010/03/cal-rated-worst.html California now has the
lowest bond ratings of any state, edging out Louisiana. http://tinyurl.com/CA-worst-bond-rating As of 2008, California
ranks 46th worst in “lawsuit climate.” http://tinyurl.com/CA-44th-lawsuits America’s top 600
CEO’s rank California “the worst place in which to do business”
for the fifth straight year (3/2010). But here’s the interesting part
– they think California is a great state to live (primarily for the
great climate) – they just won’t bring their businesses here
because of the oppressive tax and regulatory climate. Consider this quote from
the survey (a conclusion reflected in the rankings of the characteristics of
the state): “California has huge advantages with its size, quality of
work force, particularly in high tech, as well as the quality of life and climate
advantages of the state. However, it is an absolute regulatory and tax
disaster.” http://tinyurl.com/CEO-states-rank-2010 California, a destitute
state, still gives away college education at fire sale prices. Our community
college tuition is by far the lowest in the nation. How low? Nationwide, the
average community college tuition is almost four times higher than California
CC’s. This ridiculously low tuition devalues
education to students – resulting in a 30+% drop rate for class
completion. In addition, 2/3 of California CC students pay no tuition at all
– filling out a simple unverified “hardship” form that
exempts them from any tuition payment, or receiving grants and tax credits
for their full tuition. On top of that, California
offers thousands of absolutely free adult continuing education classes
– a sop to the upper middle class. In San Diego, over 1,000 classes for
everything from baking pastries to ballroom dancing are offered totally at
taxpayer expense. http://www.sdce.edu Protests about increased
UC student fees ignore one crucial point -- all poor and most middle class
students don't pay the “fees” (our state’s euphemism for
tuition)! There are no fees for California families with under $70K income. Moreover,
Pell Grants and federal tuition tax credits cover the total 2009-10 fee
increases for nearly 3/4 of all undergraduates with household incomes below $180K. http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/blueandgold/
and www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/article/22415 California residential
electricity costs an average of 37.2% more than the national average (far
higher in San Diego County). For industrial use, CA electricity is 44.6%
higher than the national average (December, 2009). http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/epm/table5_6_a.html It costs 38% more to
build solar panels in California than in Tennessee – which is why
European corporations have invested $2.3 billion in two Tennessee
manufacturing plants to build solar panels for our state. Consider
California’s net domestic migration (migration between states). From
April, 2000 through June, 2008 (8 years, 2 months) California has lost a NET 1.4
million people. The departures slowed in 2008 only because people
couldn’t sell their homes. http://www.mdp.state.md.us/msdc/Pop_estimate/Estimate_08/table5.pdf These are not welfare
kings and queens departing. They are the young, the educated, the productive,
the ambitious, the wealthy (such as Tiger Woods), and retirees seeking to
make their pensions provide more bang for the buck. The irony is that a
disproportionate number of these seniors are retired state and local
government employees fleeing the state that provides them with their opulent
pensions – in order to avoid the high taxes that these same employees
pushed so hard through their unions. As taxes rise and jobs
disappear, we lose our tax base, continuing California’s state and
local fiscal death spiral. This downward spiral must stop NOW. NOTE: To see the latest
version of this “Breaking Bad” column, plus other taxpayer items
of interest, go to my blog at www.RiderBlog.NotLong.com. There is an
“RSS Feed” button to have notices of blog updates sent to you
automatically. This fact sheet also is available upon request as a 2 page
Word file for printing. |