Revenue forecast confirms need for caution

On Tuesday, the Board of Equalization certified a preliminary estimate of the revenues available for next year’s budget. The numbers confirm that while the worst of the fiscal crisis is over, the state is experiencing a slow, incomplete recovery that… Read more [More...]

Oklahoma ranked 6th in the nation for tax break safeguards, but serious gaps remain

States are spending billions of dollars per year on corporate tax credits, cash grants and other economic development subsidies that often require little if any job creation and lack wage and benefit standards covering workers at subsidized companies. These are… Read more [More...]

Report tracks how large corporations avoid state taxes

A comprehensive new study finds that many consistently profitable companies are paying little to no corporate income taxes on those profits. Out of 265 Fortune 500 companies examined, 68 managed to pay no state income tax in at least one… Read more [More...]

Ken Miller: Rhetoric versus reality on tax incentives

Ken Miller is State Treasurer and a member of the the Task Force for the Study of Tax Credits and Economic Incentives.  This originally appeared as an article in the November Oklahoma Economic Report and is reprinted with permission. For… Read more [More...]

Beware the tax shift

An idea floating around in the tax reform debate has been to swap tax credits for a reduction in the top income tax rate. That’s one of the motivations behind the tax credit task force, which has looked at reigning… Read more [More...]

When you want something done, do it

Recently Maj. Gen. Rita Aragon, Oklahoma’s Secretary of Veterans Affairs, suggested that school gyms, playgrounds, and athletic fields should be opened to the public after hours. She argued that these “shared-use agreements” for public facilities would reduce obesity, especially in… Read more [More...]

Read This: A glossary of tax terminology

If all the recent talk about tax credits and exemptions and tax reform have left you scratching your head, you’re not alone.  Keeping up with the tax debate – and its accompanying jargon and terminology – can challenge even the… Read more [More...]

An Incomplete Recovery–and a chance to do better

Today we published “An Incomplete Recovery: The State Budget Outlook 2012-2015.” This is the third of our annual series of forecasts for the state budget. Our goals for this project are both to inform leaders and citizens about the state’s… Read more [More...]

An Incomplete Recovery: The State Budget Outlook, 2012-2015

OK Policy’s issue brief is based on revenue forecasts for FY ’12 – FY ’15. Our main findings include: Oklahoma will face prolonged constraints on the state budget even as the economy and state . recover; Revenues will remain below… Read more [More...]

Quick Take: Despite growth, revenues still well below pre-downturn levels

For the eighteenth consecutive month since May 2010, General Revenue (GR) collections grew compared to the prior year. October GR was $24.3 million, or 6.3 percent, above collections in October 2010. All major taxes brought in more revenue than one… Read more [More...]