For months, the AEC has repeatedly urged Gov. Jan Brewer and the state legislature to restore cuts to the state Department of Revenue. Three hundred Revenue Department employees were terminated by Brewer in January. The move, which saved only $9 million, actually cost the state $174 million in lost revenue.
Today’s Arizona Republic editorial makes the same point: “The midyear fix for the 2009 budget reduced Department of Revenue staff so much that it hurt tax collections.”
Arizona is owed hundreds of millions of dollars in uncollected taxes. Enhancing the state Revenue Department could raise more than half a billion dollars in revenue – without raising taxes – in just a few years.
RSS Feed POSTED: July 21, 2009