taxes

The state will send a jaw-dropping $5.6 billion back to taxpayers next year, ratcheting up pressure on a policy voters love.

A ballot measure being pushed by business groups could place strict new limits on the ability of state and local governments to raise taxes. But California Democrats — from Governor Gavin Newsom to mayors from around the state — are asking the state Supreme Court to invalidate the proposition and remove it from the 2024 ballot.

The latest state revenue forecast predicts an additional $335 million in the current budget, driven by income taxes from wealthier Oregonians and surging corporate profits.

In Oregon, a record $5.6 billion in revenue surplus will be returned to its taxpayers in the form of an income tax credit next year.

American Medical Response has poured more than $3 million into a November 2024 initiative to raise requirements for levying taxes and fees. The company says it’s looking out for patients, but local officials say it’s about the money.

A new ban on flavored tobacco products is accelerating a decline in nicotine tax revenue that funds California’s early childhood services. Some programs are already making cuts.

A lawyer for Oregon Recovers said in a letter that restaurant owner and Commissioner Kiauna Floyd has a conflict of interest.

The vote in Ashland to redirect the city’s tax on prepared foods and restaurant meals to fund parks is hanging by a thread. As of Wednesday morning, the measure is being narrowly rejected by voters, with just 40 votes separating the two sides.

Tax increases are sensitive business in politics. So it didn’t take long Wednesday — all of two hours — for Gov. Gavin Newsom to swiftly and decisively reject the latest idea from Democratic lawmakers to balance California’s budget by pumping businesses for more cash.

In May, Ashland voters will decide whether or not to dedicate its special tax on prepared food to the city’s parks department.

A proposal from Governor Gavin Newsom to impose a “price-gouging penalty” on oil companies in response to record gas prices last year received a skeptical reception from state lawmakers during its first hearing Wednesday.

The state's latest revenue forecast suggests lawmakers will have nearly $700 million more to spend in coming years. But taxpayers have a big refund on the way.