Tim Mathern Proposes Tax Cuts: 75% For Lower Income Brackets, 50% For Upper Income Brackets

I just received word that Democrat candidate for Governor of North Dakota Tim Mathern has released a plan for income tax cuts that is going to set some people in the state back on their heels. I don’t have the details in my hands just yet, but early reports say it will include a 75% income tax cut on income up to $78k, 50% income tax cut on income $78k to $164k.
Which, frankly, is a lot bigger cut than the 50% across-the-board tax cuts proposed by the Americans for Prosperity measure that will be on the ballot this fall. And when it comes to tax cuts, bigger is usually better to my mind.
I’ll update this post as I learn more, but I do have a couple of initial reactions.
First, why does significant and substantial tax relief have to come from a liberal like Mathern? This proposal upstages Hoeven’s rather milquetoast proposal for tax cuts made a week ago. Have North Dakota Republicans, or at least the North Dakota Republican running for Governor this year, really fallen so far from their core principles that they can get out maneuvered on tax cuts by a liberal Democrat?
Second, as tantalizing as Mathern’s proposal is, let’s remember that it’s not likely to happen. Even if Mathern wins this election (and that’s a long shot by any measure given the polls) he’ll still be likely to deal with a Republican legislature that’s not likely to be willing to pass something like this (though the idea of Republicans blocking tax cuts proposed by a Democrat governor is pretty nauseating).
Third, with Mathern throwing his hat into the tax cuts arena we now have a three-way battle for tax cuts in the state: Hoeven, Mathern and the fiscal conservatives supporting the AFP ballot measure. If nothing else, this tells us that the people of North Dakota don’t just want tax relief. They need it. And anyone claiming otherwise doesn’t know which way the wind’s blowing.
Update: I just got in Mathern’s tax proposal. In addition to the 75%/50% cuts above, there are two other items:
First, to address property taxes, Mathern would extend the Homestead Tax Credit Program to all property-owning North Dakotans. Currently this program only covers elderly and disabled citizens and pays down 25% of their property taxes using state funds.
Second, since we apparently can’t have a politician in the state propose tax relief without also proposing some additional spending, Mathern proposes bringing the state’s share of education funding up to 75% with $300 million in new spending. Mathern will also give another $150 million to counties and cities to help alleviate some of the pressure on property taxes.
As for the Homestead Tax Credit Program, I think such state buy-downs of local taxes needlessly complicate our already abominable tax code. Property taxes are a local problem that usually have a lot to do with local officials spending way more than they need to. For all the whining about underfunded schools and roads in disrepair, it sure seems as though local officials spend a lot of time debating about spending tax revenue on things like dog parks and public arenas. We should either hold these local officials’ feet to the fire, or we should just admit that localism isn’t working and do everything from the state level.
Because with proposals like Mathern’s we’re creeping in that direction anyway.
As for $300 million in new school spending and the $150 million for local communities, what guarantees do we have that this funding will actually take burden off of property taxes? Seems to me like we’re just giving local officials more money to spend without requiring them to actually grant any tax relief. Hoeven’s plan, at least, asked that much. And I’m not convinced that we need this additional funding. Despite school enrollment dropping by some 16,000 students in the last 10 years, education spending has gone up 30%. Meaning that funding isn’t the problem with our schools.
I know that “throw money at education” is a default political position because it’s a safe position, but it’s high time we got a leader to speak up and say that we need more accountability in our schools. Not more money.