A Brilliant One-Voter Business-District Election; Bypassing Legislative Gatekeepers on Gun Control
Also: Lead-poisoned and preyed upon in Baltimore and vetoing heroin-addiction programs in Illinois.
New Jersey Tops Rankings of State Property Tax Rates
Where does your state stack up compared to the Garden State?
Is Keeping an NBA Team in Milwaukee Worth Taxpayers’ Money?
Gov. Scott Walker plans to sign a bill Wednesday that will commit millions of dollars in state and local public funding to a basketball arena project. But some officials still aren’t sold on the deal.
Military Retirees Prompt State Competition
States increasingly want to attract military retirees, sometimes by eliminating income taxes on their military pensions.
With More Money, States Weigh Expanded Tax Credits for Working Families
States are boosting earned income tax credits for working families as the Great Recession recedes and state finances improve.
Detroit’s Improved Bond Outlook Bodes Well for Municipal Services
Motor City has come a long way from its bankruptcy seven months ago.
Airbnb vs. the Hotel Industry: Big Lobbying and Influence Skirmishes Play Out in States and Localities
The Center for Public Integrity maps out the money the short-term rental and hotel industries are spending in state capitals and city halls in a new report.
Self-Driving Cars Pose a Big Revenue Problem for Local Governments
States and localities need to partner with automated carmakers—and quickly—to establish an alternative tax system, according to a new Brookings Institution report.
Chicago’s New ‘Cloud Tax’ Will Soon Hit Netflix Users
But is the Windy City’s newest revenue-generating levy legal?
Washington State Legal Showdown Awaits Tax Proposal for Guns and Ammo
“We've already sued the city of Seattle in the past,” says a gun rights activist. “They make it easy for us.”
Transportation Trumps 'No Taxes' in Many States
“No new taxes?” Many governors broke that pledge to pay for critical transportation needs.
A GPS-Enabled, One-Stop Shop for Everything Real Estate
In Washington state, Skagit County employee workloads are down and iMap hits are up.
Mississippi Happy to Take Louisiana’s Movie Business; California Farmers Happy to Take Modesto’s Sewer Water
Also: The Internet makes public sector conservation a success, Florida’s Rick Scott making the public pay to be shunned and a Miami neighborhood halts spillover gentrification, for now.
These States Collected the Most Q1 Taxes on Booze, Gambling and Other Categories
Newly released figures from the U.S. Census Bureau detail state tax revenues for the first three months of 2015.
Village Taxpayers May Regret Major League Soccer Team; 3,000 Calories Per Day to Fight Wildfires
Also: Georgia’s 'alarming' climate change report draft and fiscal gloom in Niagara Falls.
Sam Brownback’s Not-a-Tax-Hike Claims; Polygamous Towns’ Water Utility Penalty
Also in our state and local news briefs: Peoria’s new floodwall technology; R.I. good news regarding drug overdose deaths.
How States Lure Tourists And Then Tax Them
Despite anti-tax sentiment in many states, traveler taxes are regularly increased.
Stuck in a Budget Mess, a Government Shutdown Looms in Maine
Partisan politics could withhold vital state services from citizens and visitors in the Pine Tree State.
When State Governments Use Internet Shaming to Generate Revenue
To get tax scofflaws to pay up, some states are publishing their names and the amounts they owe on public websites.
Tax Revenue Plummets in Oil Producing States
States that rely heavily on revenue from oil taxes have been hit hard by falling crude prices and have had to turn elsewhere to try to balance their budgets.
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