MA: Regional Budget (In the works)

[ZuWo]

I am bumping this thread because it will be of use soon. One of my campaign promises was that I would work on the budget, and I think it's about time to get started and revive this.

[ZuWo]

These are the most recent revenue figures (though they must be updated based on shua's latest calculations in the post above):

Revenue:	Amount
Income Taxes:	$34.6 B
Social Insurance Taxes:	$24.4 B
"Ad Valorum" Taxes:	$108.5 B
Fees:	$43.3 B
Business and Other:	$66.3 B
TOTAL:	$277.1 B

*(I included the increase in license fees under Ad Valorum and Business taxes, for the most part. I truthfully had no idea where they really belonged.)

And this is what we have for spending (though shua's latest post must also be taken into consideration here):

Here's my most updated version. I took a lot out from tax cuts, and made sure everything is equal in spending to RL pretty much (minus HC) which was already mainly Medicare and Medicaid money. I've also slightly increased taxes, mostly in excise and a little for the rich in income tax (which is still pretty much in line or lower than RL averages).

*(No change) does NOT denote changing in spending levels from RL to this budget. It's really there for the next budget so we can copy this first budget, change the numbers, and then off to the side put the positive/negative change since the preceeding budget.

Total Budget: $310.61 billion
Spending ($229.41 billion)

Energy ($5.85  billion)
$3 Billion ...... Loans to be granted to energy companies that have a responsible environmental track record, are seriously attempting to develop clean energy alternatives, push for energy efficiency and/or have an approved plan to do so.
$1 Billion  ...... Fund for alternative energy
$1 Billion  ...... Updating the Mideast's current energy infrastructure
$0.5 Billion  ...... Refitting all government buildings to run on clean energy
$0.25 Billion  ...... Refitting all government vehicles (cars, planes, etc.) to run on clean energy)

Natural resources and environment ($5.21 billion)
$2.61 billion ...... Water resources (No Change)
$0.57 billion ...... Conservation and land management (No Change)
$0.42 billion ...... Recreational & Park resources (No Change)
$1.11 billion ...... Pollution control and abatement (No Change)
$0.5 billion ....... Other natural resources (No Change)

Agriculture ($4.04 billion)
$2.95 billion ..... Farm income stabilization & crop insurance (No Change)
$1.09 billion ...... Agricultural research and services (No Change)

Commerce and Housing Loan Programs ($1.95 billion)
$0.34 billion ..... Housing Loan Programs (No Change)
$0.02 billion ..... Deposit insurance (No Change)
$1.36 billion ...... Universal service fund (No Change)
$0.23 billion ...... Other advancement of commerce (No Change)

Transportation ($23.25 billion)
$9.00 billion ..... Highways and highway safety (No Change)
$4.00 billion ...... Mass transit (No Change)
$0.25 billion ...... Railroads (No Change)
$2.05 billion ..... Air Transportation (No Change)
$1.05 billion ...... Water transportation (No Change)
$0.45 billion ...... Other transportation (No Change)
$6.45 billion ..... Non-Highway Roads (No Change)
Community and regional development ($4.39 billion)
$2.50 billion ...... Community development (No Change)
$0.96 billion ...... Area and regional development (No Change)
$0.93 billion ...... Disaster relief and insurance (No Change)

Education ($68.00 billion)
$40.00 billion ..... Elementary, Secondary & Vocational education (No Change)
$20.00 billion ..... Higher education (No Change)
$8.00 billion ...... Research and general education (No Change)

Training, labor and unemployment ($9.37 billion)
$4.34 billion ...... Training and employment (No Change)
$0.2 billion ....... Labor law, statistics, and other administration (No Change)
$4.83 billion ..... Unemployment compensation (No Change)

Health Spending ($12.00 billion)
$1.15 billion ...... Substance abuse and mental health services (No Change)
$0.70 billion ....... Disease control, public health and bioterrorism (No Change)
$8.45 billion ..... Health research and training (No Change)
$1.50 billion ...... Food safety and occupational health and safety (No Change)
$0.20 billion ..... Other health care services (No Change)
$1.00 billion ...... Health care fraud (No Change)

Civilian Retirement ($41.50 billion)
$1.0 billion ...... Civilian retirement and disability insurance (No Change)
$29.50 billion ..... Mideast employee retirement and disability (No Change)
$11.00 billion ...... Mideast employees' and retired employees' health benefits (No Change)

Aid to Low-Income Families ($25.00 billion)
$6.01 billion ..... Housing assistance (No Change)
$4.33 billion ..... Food stamps (No Change)
$2.3 billion ...... Other nutrition programs (WIC, school lunches) (No Change)
$3.33 billion ..... Family support payments (TANF) (No Change)
$7.01 billion ..... Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) (No Change)
$0.85 billion ..... Child tax credit (No Change)
$0.99 billion ....... Child care funds (No Change)
$0.18 billion ...... Other aid to low-income families (No Change)

General Family Support ($5.39 billion)
$1.32 billion ...... Foster care and adoption assistance (No Change)
$0.33 billion ...... Child support and family support programs (No Change)
$3.74 billion ..... Social and family services (No Change)

Administration of justice ($20.45 billion)
$11.35 billion ..... Regional law enforcement and security (No Change)
$5.21 billion ..... Regional litigation and judicial activities (No Change)
$2.89 billion ...... Regional prison system (No Change)
$1.00 billion ...... Criminal justice assistance (No Change)

General government administration ($3.01 billion)
$0.31 billion ...... Legislative functions (No Change)
$0.10 billion ...... Executive office programs (No Change)
$2.05 billion ....... Fiscal operations (No Change)
$0.55 billion ...... Other general government (No Change)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tax Expenditures and Tax Cuts ($81.20 billion)

Corporate Tax Breaks ($11.03 billion)
$7.00 billion ...... R&D Tax Breaks (No Change)
$1.01 billion ...... Energy, Mining and Timber Tax Breaks (No Change)
$2.03 billion ...... Tax Free Bonds (No Change)
$0.99 billion ..... Other Corporate Tax Breaks (No Change)

Personal Business & Investment Benefits ($5.09 billion)
$3.80 billion ..... Tax-Free Bonds (No Change)
$0.56 billion ...... Enterprise & Empowerment Zones and New Markets credit (No Change)
$0.33 billion ....... Other personal investment tax breaks (No Change)

Pension & Retirement Deductions ($26.08 billion)
$10.05 billion ..... Employer-paid Pensions (No Change)
$7.05 billion ..... 401Ks & Keogh plans (No Change)
$1.50 billion ...... IRAs (No Change)
$6.62 billion ..... Group and personal life insurance benefits (No Change)
$0.86 billion ...... Other retirement benefits (No Change)

Health Insurance Tax Benefits ($12.64 billion)
$9.80 billion .... Employer-paid Health Insurance (No Change)
$1.03 billion ...... Self-employed medical insurance premiums (No Change)
$1.70 billion ...... Medical Savings/Health Savings Accounts (No Change)
$1.11 billion ...... Deductibility of medical expenses (No Change)

Housing tax benefits ($12.67 billion)
$5.50 billion ..... Mortgage Interest (No Change)
$3.01 billion ..... Deductibility of property taxes on homes (No Change)
$3.51 billion ..... Exclusion of net imputed rental income on owner-occupied homes (No Change)
$0.91 billion ...... Housing bonds & low-income housing investments (No Change)

Other individual deductions and exemptions ($14.43 billion)
$3.62 billion ..... Charitable contributions (No Change)
$1.91 billion ..... Local taxes (w/o home property) (No Change)
$0.56 billion ...... Workmen's compensation (No Change)
$3.33 billion ..... Education deductions and credits (No Change)
$1.31 billion ..... Child credit (No Change)
$1.38 billion ...... Child care credits and deductions (No Change)
$0.46 billion ......... Deduction for the blind and elderly (No Change)
$0.41 billion ...... Employee parking and transit expenses (No Change)
$0.35 billion ...... Adoption and foster care tax credits (No Change)
$0.80 billion ...... Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)- revenue loss component (No Change)
$0.30 billion ...... Other fringe benefits (No Change)
----------

Income Tax Rate:
0%    $0 - $13,000
1%    $13,001 - $40,000
1.5%    $40,001 - $100,000
2%    $100,001 - $180,000
2.5%    $180,001 - $300,000
3.20%    $300,001 - $750,000
4%    $750,001 - $2,750,000
5%    $2,750,001- $9,999,999
6.5%   $10,000,000+

Corporate Tax Rate:
0%    $0 - $50,000
0.5%    $50,001 - $75,000
1%    $75,001 - $125,000
1.5%    $125,001 - $350,000
2%    $350,001 - $1,000,000
2.5%    $1,000,001 - $10,000,000
3.25%    $10,000,001 - $20,000,000
4%    $20,000,001-$70,000,000
5%   $70,000,001+

Sales Tax Rate: 5.7% (Groceries, prescription drugs exempt)

Excise Taxes:

Gas: 1.5 cents/gallon (2 cents/gallon for diesel).

Cigarettes: $1.60 per pack.
Other Tobacco Products: 55% Manufactures Price
Distilled Spirits: $2.70 per gallon
Wine: $0.30 per gallon
Beer: $0.20 per gallon

Now this is our basis to work on!

[ZuWo]

As far as I understand, the original budget (before shua's latest calculations) would have resulted in a deficit of $33.51 B (revenue: $277.1 B, expenditures: $310.61). If we take into account the following:

I figured the change in the income tax there is about +0.7 Billion and the increase in the gas tax is about +1.8 Billion.  So, not a large difference in  terms of the total budget. ( I'll wait on making any estimation on a marijuana tax here, since there's a bill being discussed now that would dedicate any money from a proposed tax. )
I'll need to find out what the deal is with that social insurance tax revenue, since it seems large to me, and I don't know of any social insurance program in the budget except unemployment insurance.

the deficit is reduced to around $31 B, but the marijuana tax is not included in these estimations. I guess once we can get around solving the marijuana tax problem, we can introduce this budget to the Assembly and discuss any further cuts so that the budget will be more balanced.

[ZuWo]

The figure for the Marijuana Tax is $2.40 billion.  It is spent on the following:
$1.2 billion    Victim Compensation Fund
$1.08 billion  Cannabis Prevention Center
$0.12 billion  community murals

Under tax expenditures, given the impact of current national policy, employer sponsored health plan deductions should be reduced by $4.5 billion and health savings account deductions should be increased by $3 billion.

Also, please note this budget has public employees funding almost all of their own pensions, so you might get some push back on the unions from that.

Thanks for your figures for the marijuana tax!

Now regarding your comments on tax expenditures, is that what you meant?

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[ZuWo]

I went through each part of the budget again, re-calculated every section and found some minor errors, corrected them and amended the entire budget according to GM shua's most recent estimations. As a result, we have a complete version of the budget. I will go through all numbers again later, but take that as a preliminary result:

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Projected Deficit: Revenue - (Spending + Tax Expenditures/Cuts) = 282 - 314.01 = 32.21 --> $32.01 B

(FTR, the $2.4 B the Marijuana Tax brings in are included in the revenue as well as the spending section. The sum is partly included in the "Education" section and partly in the "Health Spending" section.

[ZuWo]

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