Chamber Chatter

The New Year brings us thoughts of taxes.  April 15^th will be here very soon.

How does Alabama’s taxes compare to other states?  Alabama’s tax revenues per capita remain the lowest in the United States.

This ranking seems to be a good thing until you start looking at services provided by our taxes.

Tax revenues should adequately fund public services that are important to a state’s development.

Alabama’s tax base is heavily weighted toward sales taxes and away from property taxes.  We rank 50 in comparison to other states for property taxes per capita.

Our education system is funded heavily with state income tax and a large portion of the state sales tax.  These two taxes are the most volatile of the state’s major revenue sources.

Data indicates that Alabama is above the national average on sales tax but ranks in the middle of the Southeastern states.  Arkansas ranks the highest in sales taxes.

With the downturn of the economy, our local tax base has somewhat decreased.  Even though the gift buying season has passed, the Chamber encourages everyone to still shop locally.