Georgia County Government - March 2008 - (Page 9)

CountyMatters Great Ideas May Prove Better in Theory Than in Practice T By Jerry Griffin Executive Director Because of a sound basis to our tax structure, our state should survive in a healthy manner. he past several years have seen many states experiment with their tax structures, seeking ways to fulfill the perceived demand for less taxes and less government, even in the face of deteriorating infrastructure and tremendous population growth in parts of the nation. As these great ideas are shared by national organizations, ranging from governors to legislators to county and city officials, legislators rush to pass legislation and try the novel approaches before any success of the proposed tax structure has been proven. As has been seen often, what looks so good to legislators and the public on the surface can contain many hidden traps for the future. Governing magazine recently has published numerous stories of states having to back up and start over when implementation of a new tax structure failed to perform as anticipated. From the standpoints of policy and politics, the attempt to re-work a tax policy is far worse than carefully thinking out and analyzing a proposal before it is passed. Many changes having to be revisited occurred during the economic boom of recent years. A tax structure that may be completely adequate during prosperous times can utterly fail when a different set of economic conditions come into play. Its economic resiliency has been the beauty of Georgia’s tax structure over the years. It is balanced, meaning that when one source was on the decline, others held steady or increased. No one who invests money in the stock market would elect to put all their assets into one stock. Allocation of assets is a proven formula for protection and gain in all markets. While many people criticize the Georgia Legislature for not moving to some of these novel ideas, most legislators have been willing to watch and see what happens when the economy changes. The wisdom of their patience is now being seen. If, in fact, the economy enters into a recession, the state’s revenues will suffer. But because of a sound basis to our tax structure, our state should survive in a healthy manner. The current economic downturn focuses more attention on the potential recklessness of joining the herd and rushing into unknown territory without careful analysis. Georgia’s tax structure is not perfect, but neither is it fatally flawed. It can certainly be improved, and that is why Association County Commissioners of Georgia (ACCG) has had a policy position calling for tax reform for a number of years. State and local governments were intended to be laboratories for finding new ways of doing things – including careful examination of tax policy with particular focus on how it might impact future economic prosperity. While many have spoken against a tax proposal advanced by House Speaker Glenn Richardson during the past summer, few real ideas have been presented that can be analyzed and studied. This needs to be pursued, but done taking into account the services citizens need, which are provided by state and local governments. As much as we would all like to cut the size of governMATTERS continued on page 10 MARCH 2008 www.accg.org 9 http://www.accg.org

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Georgia County Government - March 2008

Georgia County Government - March 2008 Contents President's Message County Matters Guest Editorial: Our Future Depends On Statesmanship Bryan County in Step With State Coastal Plan Solid Waste Management in Georgia Hazardous Waste Management in Georgia Extension News: Georgians Growing Older, Fatter County Parade Index of Advertisers

Georgia County Government - March 2008

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