FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 31 January 2006

The AS220 StinkTank and the House of Unrepresentatives Present

Discussions You Won't Hear From Elected Officials, but Should.

Wednesdays happening from November 30 to May 17
(full schedule)
5:30pm at AS220
115 Empire St
Providence, RI 02903 Please join the AS220 Stinktank and a specially appointed panel of its House of Unrepresentatives for a public discussion on the issue of

Tax Reform and Property Taxes

How can we re-evaluate state finances to better serve our communities? Is there a better way to raise the money we need to run the state than the way we do it now?

Proposals to address the current situation will be presented by two witnesses, who will have to defend their proposals in questioning from the panel and from the audience.

Choices for funding our government

The bad ones and what we can do instead

Every year our elected leaders grumble about taxes, but it rarely seems that anything changes. They say that our state relies too much on property taxes, but the House Majority leader, Gordon Fox, recently endorsed a cut in the state income tax, which will do little to address that problem. The Governor is late with the budget this year, so there's no telling what he will propose, but in past years, he has also endorsed cuts in income and sales taxes.

These calls, for cuts in state taxes, sound just like similar calls from past Governors. But it was the decisions of the past that put us where we are now. If we don't like the current system, what sense does it make to mimic the decisions that put us here?

• Is there a better way to raise the money we need to run the state than the way we do it now? Our state and local governments provide services that are widely popular. Is there a better way to fund them than we do now? Should some taxes go up in order that others go down? Which ones and why?
• Is there a fairer way to assess property taxes? Does the system we use to assess the values of property create the most equitable way to share the costs of funding our city and town services? Are periodic revaluations necessary, or just cruel?

Please join the AS220 Stinktank and a specially appointed panel of its House of Unrepresentatives in a discussion about these topics and finding ways to create a more equitable tax system.

Proposals to address the current situation will be presented by two witnesses, who will have to defend their proposals in questioning from the panel and from the audience.

The event will be at AS220, 115 Empire Street in Providence, 5:30 to 7 PM, Wednesday, February 15, 2006. See you there.

Witnesses:

Ellen Frank is a senior economist with the Poverty Institute at the Rhode Island College School of Social Work where she conducts analysis of state tax, budget and economic development policies and of labor market conditions. She is the author of numerous books and articles on US economic policy and has taught economics at Emmanuel College, Wellesley College and the University of New Hampshire.

Harvey Waxman retired here from Massachusetts after 40 years as a general dentist in Worcester. He has three grown daughters, two grandchildren, and a web site: righttax.org, where he writes and agitates to reform the way property taxes are levied and raised in Rhode Island, and to abolish revaluations.

February's tax reform forum is just the third of a series of events hosted by the Stinktank. You'll hear discussions here you won't here anywhere else. But should.