Conference to Examine Kentucky's Fiscal Future

Tax reform has loomed large on Kentucky’s political landscape for years, but essentially remains unmet. Economic changes, demographic shifts, and changing social priorities have complicated the challenge of reshaping a state and local tax structure that is generally considered to be less than ideal. The Center’s conference will consider some of the many obstacles and opportunities state and local officials face as they work to ensure future financing for key government services. Today, about $9 of the $10 dollars spent by Kentucky’s state and local governments falls into just a handful of categories. Education tops the list, accounting for about 30 percent of all state and local expenditures, followed by social services and income maintenance, including public welfare, hospitals, health, and social insurance programs, which account for around 23 percent of total spending. Rounding out the list are governmental administration (11 percent), transportation (10 percent), public safety (6 percent), the environment and housing (5 percent), and utilities (4 percent).

The one-day session will begin with a look at the qualities of the ideal tax system. Dr. David Wildasin, a nationally recognized public finance expert with the Martin School of Public Policy and Administration at the University of Kentucky, will present his work on the ideal system and the difficult question of whether it can be achieved. Dr. Merl Hackbart, also with the Martin School, will give a brief historical overview of tax reform efforts in Kentucky and discuss what other states are doing to modernize their tax systems. Conference attendees will also hear the Patton Administration’s perspective on tax modernization and get a preview of what’s in store for the 2002 session of the General Assembly from legislative leaders.

Conference attendees will also get the opportunity to add their perspectives on Kentucky’s system of taxation during morning concurrent sessions. They will include: Business Taxation in Kentucky: Too Much or Too Little?, by Dr. Larry Lynch, Transylvania University; What is the tax burden on Kentucky’s families and is the burden distributed fairly?, by Dr. Chuck Martie, Governor’s Office for Policy Research; and What are the trends in local taxation and what does the future hold?, by Dr. David Wildasin.

The keynote lunch speaker will be Dr. Bill Fox, a special consultant on tax policy to the Kentucky General Assembly. Dr. Fox has served as a consultant on finance, taxation, and economic development for a number of states and developing countries, and is the immediate past president of the National Tax Association. He will discuss his work for the Subcommittee on Tax Policy and offer his observations about Kentucky’s system of state and local taxation.

During the afternoon session, KET’s Bill Goodman, host of Kentucky Tonight, will lead a panel of distinguished Kentuckians through a series of questions about the state’s fiscal future. The discussion will touch on the role of government, the direction Kentucky is taking, and the many ways in which taxing and spending will affect our future. Panelists will include: former Kentucky Supreme Court Justice and General Assembly member, Walter Baker; mayor of Madisonville and member of the Advisory Committee on City & County Relations, Karen Cunningham; President and CEO of the Inez Deposit Bank, Robert Michael Duncan; Director of the Kentucky Task Force on Hunger and member of the 1995 Commission on Tax Policy, Anne Joseph; Co-Chairman of the Governor’s Tax Policy Commission in 1995 and former member of the Kentucky General Assembly, Bill Lear; member of the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence and Vice Chair of the University of Kentucky Board of Trustees, Steve Reed; and Kentucky Association of Counties President and McLean County Judge Executive, Larry Whitaker.

The one-day conference is open to all interested citizens. They can register online at www.kltprc.net/conference2001.htm or by mailing or faxing registration information to the Kentucky Long-Term Policy Research Center, 111 St. James Court, Frankfort, KY 40601-8486, or by calling the Center at 502-564-1412 or, outside Frankfort, at 800-383-1412. For those who register on or before November 6, the registration fee is $35, which includes a continental breakfast and lunch. After November 6, the fee will be $45. Students can attend for $10, and group rates are available. Scholarships are also available to those for whom the cost is prohibitive.

The Kentucky Long-Term Policy Research Center is a state agency dedicated to research into trends and issues that are likely to influence the future of the state. Created by the General Assembly in 1992, the Center is governed by a 21-member board whose largest component is from the at-large community.