IDS Budget and Tax Committee

[Brandon H]

     I am fine with that proposal. Actually, I think I might make one post at the beginning of each week & edit it to include any new findings as the week progresses. That should be a good way to keep my thoughts organized.

Sounds great.

I was looking through wiki and, unless I read it wrong, the only laws cataloged are initiatives.  I realize this is probably outside the scope of this committee but, if that's correct, something must be done to update it.

     Indeed, not a single law has been catalogued since the creation of the Legislature. I have a lot to do this weekend, but I'll try to get at least a couple of laws up on the Wiki.

Sounds good.  Do you, by any chance, know where to find the old legislative threads?  Search didn't turn up anything.

     Prior to the creation of the Imperial Legislature, except for a universal legislature that briefly existed in 2006, all laws were passed by referendum. You should be able to find all of the old voting booths looking on the Voting Booth board.

I made an effort to add initiatives and links to the voting booths somewhere in the wiki. I'll see if I can find it.

This page contains links to most elections, though is missing 2009.
https://uselectionatlas.org/AFEWIKI/index.php/Southeast_Regional_Elections

You probably found this one already, but here is a list of all initiatives (prior to the creation of the legislature).
https://uselectionatlas.org/AFEWIKI/index.php/Southeast_Law

[Brandon H]

     I don't know where I placed the link I had, but the region's laws are based on the 2006 Georgia statutes. As of 2009, Georgia had multiple income tax brackets, ranging from 1-6%.

     To my knowledge no significant changes have been made in that area. I do not think that any significant changes have been made in re sales tax either, though we now have a sales tax on marijuana, something which no real life state does for obvious reasons.

As far as revenues go, we should probably average up all the tax rates from different states rather than base it off Georgia; otherwise we will be severely in debt.  And I have a full schedule today and tomorrow; hopefully by Wednesday I will find time.

If anyone wants to help, average up the revenues.  I'm not asking you, PiT (you've done plenty already), but we have two legislators, a Viceroy, an Attorney General, and two senators who are more than welcome to pitch in

     The problem is,  we already did base it on Georgia.

Meh.  Laws can be repealed.  If my interpretation of that initiative is correct, it is utterly nonsensical.

     It does offer up a problem in that the laws passed by the Legislature are not "initiative laws", & could be interpreted as ineffectual in superseding the laws laid out by that initiative.

     The problem with Atlasia is that laws are often drafted in a haphazard fashion with little regard to consequences or existing statute. Of course, real-life politicians are probably plenty guilty of this as well.

If our now elected legislature has replaced the Initiative process as the law making body of the region, then it should have the power to repeal / amend initiatives.

[Brandon H]

     Also, regional tax rates!

Corporate tax: 8.6%
Personal income tax: effectively 6%
Alcohol sales tax: $1.00/proof liter
Tobacco sales tax: $0.04/cigarette, $0.08/cigar, $2.00/kg tobacco
Liquid fuel tax: $0.08/liter
Marijuana tax: $3.00/ounce
Excise taxes on nuclear & biomass-produced electricity are 80% of the normal excise tax on electricity, whatever that might be.

Does this mean a 50 proof bottle of alcohol would have $50 tax? A little bit excessive.

[Brandon H]

Pentagram Creation Act? Was that really the best way to spend $200 M?