AP: GOP Leaders In Oklahoma Rethinking Income Tax Cut Triggers
Republican leaders in Oklahoma rethinking income tax cut
By SEAN MURPHY, AP
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) – Republican leaders in Oklahoma are reconsidering whether to keep an income tax cut that could be triggered as early as next year.
Their decision comes at a time when the state has a budget hole of nearly $870 million and declining revenue collections.
The trigger for the individual income tax rate cut from 5 percent to 4.85 percent is when tax collections increase by about $100 million annually – enough to cover the cost of the tax cut.
The average savings per tax return would be about $56, according to the Oklahoma Tax Commission, but cost the state about $97.8 million in 2018.
Oklahoma’s Gov. Mary Fallin’s chief budget negotiator, Secretary of Finance Preston Doerflinger, and Treasurer Ken Miller both have suggested lawmakers should either scrap or revise the trigger point until state revenues have stabilized.