Jason Carter’s campaign for governor rests on his plan to boost spending for public schools without a tax increase, but Gov. Nathan Deal and other experts say it’s not so simple.
Carter’s plan to have deadbeats fund part of his education boost may face problems.Deal already increased resources for the Revenue Department twice, resulting in 150 more auditors and other employees as well as technical equipment. That succeeded in squeezing some into ponying up, according to the Department of Audits; however, getting the rest of the outstanding taxes will be tougher, the department wrote.
Of the uncollected amount, nearly $2 billion is owed by individuals, and 80 percent is older than four years. The older the debt, the more likely the person owing it has moved, died or gone broke. Just $374 million is owed for corporate income taxes, $122 million for sales taxes, and $113 million for employer’s withholding, and most of it is older than four years, too.
Another snag in Carter’s plan is that even if he succeeded in collecting $2.5 billion, it would only pay for a one-year increase in the budget, said public-finance expert Thomas Lauth.
“Delinquent-tax collection is one-time funding (unless one assumes continuing delinquency), not recurring funding,” he wrote in an e-mail. “The more sensible ways to increase funding for public education are to (1) allocate a substantial portion of revenue growth (new money) to that purpose or (2) designate a tax increase for that purpose.”
Comments ( 0 )