Tax Reform: It's a Matter of Trust
Guest Editorial
By Jim Higdon, Executive Director Georgia Municipal Association

In all the talk about the tax plan being pushed by Speaker of the House Glenn Richardson, there is one underlying theme: Local elected officials aren't important and can't be trusted to manage. Their opposition to this plan, proponents say, is expected. After all, they are local government officials and don't want to give up local control. In fact, the Speaker has repeatedly said that "Local control has become a catch phrase for the ability of local governments to indiscriminately raise taxes.." That local officials are also taxpaying business owners, bankers, doctors, clergy, attorneys, homemakers, teachers - in other words, people of your community - is apparently lost on them.

Many of the local elected officials were born and raised in the communities they now serve. Some of them chose their new hometowns based on quality of life or job opportunities. All of them made the difficult choice to serve their communities and have made great sacrifices to do so. In my 36 years with the state and six years with GMA, I have been impressed by the level of commitment and dedication local officials have shown in performing their duties as elected officials. And I have not met a state politician any smarter than local officials.

GMA is not opposed to tax reform. We are opposed to a state takeover of local decisions. For several years, one of GMA's top priorities has been tax reform. We have encouraged the state to take a comprehensive look at sales tax exemptions and the entire tax code to see how it all works - or doesn't work - and then consider options for making it better. We have even offered to help finance some of the needed research. But our position has always been that reform needs to be done in a comprehensive, informed, deliberate and inclusive fashion. Georgia's system of taxation is well-balanced and ranks among one of the fairest in the country. It has served us well as Georgia has become the Empire State of the South. Tax reform by sound bite and political expediency is a dangerous and slippery slope. We can't afford to miss the mark in tax reform. It could take us years to recover and our quality of life could forever be affected.

The GREAT plan, being touted as "reform," is really just a one-size-fits-none tax shift or tax increase. No one really knows for sure. We do not apologize for voicing our opinion and our opposition. That is our job in advocating for the 500+ member cities of GMA and their diverse needs and aspirations. We applaud the Speaker for "jump-starting" the discussion on tax reform, but it is now time to have a public discussion, not a pre-determined conclusion.

The GREAT Plan appears to be the self-proclaimed Titanic of Tax Reform Plans - unsinkable according to its builders - full speed ahead and damn the icebergs according to its captain. As Georgians, we're all passengers aboard this political and public policy vessel and even the smallest navigational error could sink the state's future economic prosperity.