Richardson revises his tax plan, & in the same breath says his revision is not a retreat or sign of trouble selling plan. Sure Mr. Speaker, sure.

This past Thursday I was in Atlanta for our annual School Law Seminar that is held in conjunction with the annual meeting of the Georgia School Boards Association and the Georgia School Superintendents Association.

I gave some thought to sticking around to hear the Czar talk about his GREAT tax bill, but had too much going on. I'm glad I didn't, and can assure you assure you that the board of education members and superintendents who did did not like what they heard.
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From the AJC:

Six weeks before the Legislature convenes, House Speaker Glenn Richardson on Friday slimmed down his plan to eliminate all property taxes in Georgia — and instead will push for the removal of school taxes paid by homeowners, and taxes on personally owned cars and trucks.

"Instead of trying to change the entire ad valorem system in one fell swoop, we'll do it a little bit at a time," Richardson said to a decidedly skeptical and silent crowd of educators.

The House speaker promised the gathering that their systems would lose no money on the deal. "You'll get exactly the amount of money you set for your budget," Richardson told the crowd.

The House speaker announced his change of direction at the annual joint meeting of two influential education groups in the state — the Georgia School Boards Association and the Georgia School Superintendents Association.

Richardson said his revised plan would [be paid for in part by the] restoration of the sales tax on groceries, "so that all 9.4 million Georgians will pay."

Originally, the House speaker also had in his crosshairs property taxes levied by cities and counties and by the state. An array of forces lined up against him on that proposal, and both Gov. Sonny Perdue and Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle expressed doubts.

Richardson denied that his revision was a retreat, or that he was having trouble winning support for the plan within his Republican caucus. "I could make this happen the way I've got it out there," the House speaker told a reporter. "But so many people have so many reservations, I thought, we'll show them how much money this produces."

The elimination of school taxes on commercial real estate would follow the next year, if the new system is proven to work, Richardson said. "If there's not enough money, we won't go to the next level," he said.
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Although I am opposed to the Speaker's tax plan, as discussed in a 10-9-04 post, I am very much in favor of removing the sales tax exemption on groceries.

This lengthly 2004 post, along with the earlier posts linked therein, reviews the history of the sales tax and also the exemption on "food and beverages," how the exemption is not applicable to SPLOST, and why "food and beverages" might not be what you think.