Unit 4 Exam

1 2 examples of each

sales tax- Is taxes levied by state and local governments on purchases. Politions and Economists like the sales tax because they are less visible to constituents and don't distort customer spending habits or behavior. However, low-income people complain that its a regressive tax; taxes levied on all taxpayers regardless of income or ability to pay. This discriminates against poor people because they would have to pay more of they're income than a rich person. Accounts for nearly 6% of local government tax revenue nationwide. property tax- paying money for the property you own on the value of the property you own. Wealthy communities with high housing values raise the most money from property taxes. Primary funder of local governments and pretty much finances public elementary and high school education. income tax- Taxes on wages and interest earned. Generates 10% of state and local government revenue, making it the 3rd most significant source of income. most states don't impose income tax, and other impose income tax on certain items. however, everyone still pays federal income tax. states who rely on this tax use a progressive tax system; a system of taxation in which the rate paid reflects ability to pay. insurance trust funds- Money collected from contributions, assessments, insurance premiums, and payroll taxes to go to their state and federal government. Invested to support social security retirement programs, workers compensation, disability programs, and other related insurance programs that benefit employees. ex: a state employee will have deductions from their check to pay for federal-state programs like Medicare or social security.

7 1hr 30 min

wages- State and Local governments are the biggest employers in the U.S. In 2014, the state government hired 5.1 million people nationwide and local government hires 14.1 million workers. A large source of expenditures from the state and local government goes into worker salaries. A living wage means that you can afford housing, food and other necessities. Living wages shouldn't be a minimum because different states have different political cultures that affect the cost of housing. implementing a living wage could benefit the companies by, reducing staff turnover, reduces recruitment and training costs for the firm, and increase employee productivity/worker output. However, some say that living wages could also harm the economy. Resulting in an increase in unemployment. education- State governments provide about half the funding for primary and secondary education and local governments devote more than one-third of their budgets to education. Money is spent so much on education that it falls into discretionary spending; spending controlled in annual appropriations acts. However, when the economy is tight revenues shrink, having legislatures reduce annual appropriations. Colleges and universities are the main ones who have to deal with these cuts. Part-time instructors don't get paid the living wage. 40% of Valencia college classes are being paid the minimum of living wage. 30% for graduate teachers in FSU. healthcare- For state governments, health care is the most spent on an item. For example, Medicare, being the most expensive state-run health program. It was first established as a safety net for low-income people, but not that number has increased so has the amount for the program. In 1970, the state government spent $2 billion on Medicaid and the federal government spent $3 billion; in 2014 both governments spent $445 billion dollars on the program. The number of people being enrolled in the program is due to the Obamacare, an act aimed to expand Medicare eligibility. Becuase Medicare is an entitlement, states by law must provide health care to qualifying low-income individuals. However, since the 2012 supreme court ruling, 19 states were able to participate in the Medicaid expansion. welfare- Is also known as an entitlement program, giving states leeway in determining eligibility. Pretty much a minor program because it is an issue in U.S politics. A program that assists families. For example the TANF program gave out federal money to states in block grants and gave them freedom on determining how they wanted to spend the money. That system leads to about 50% percents caseloads being declined welfare. fire, police, prison. Known to be spent more money on prisons then k-12 education. State and local government in 2013 spent $73 billion on prisons and $144 billion on fire and police protection. However, spending on fire, police, and prisons vary in different states. For example, New York employs 35,000 officers while L.A employees 3.8 million. For prisons, North Carolina spends 4.7% of its states spending on prisons while West Virginia spends 1.0%. how much do firemen and police are paid in the city of Orlando? Orlando police get paid $26.47 an hour. Orlando fireman gets paid $22.85 an hour.

10 pg 351-363

Counties- geographical and administrative subdivisions of states, they help with building roads, parks, and etc. municipalities- are political units that are distinguished geographically from counties by being more compact and distinguished legally by being independent corporations rather than "branch offices" of the state government. They are an organization incorporated under state law to provide government services to a community Special districts- are single-purpose governments that cover a huge range of local governments. Created to provide specific public service. They exist outside the consciousness of citizens, more than 50,000, except for school districts. Other types of special districts administer housing services, public transportation, soil conservation, mosquito control, and libraries. They have elected official for the voters to vote for. Example the race for the orange county school board; Floridians will vote for in November. Special districts do not follow county lines. the water contribution district can cross many lines. the state legislature creates special districts.

13

Dillion's rule- The legal doctrine that says local governments can execute only the powers granted to them by the state government. Named after Iowa supreme court justice John F. Dillon who essentially builds a legal argument that the tenth amendment secures power for the states but not for local governments. In Virginia, antitax lawmakers continually prevent localities from restructuring their tax systems to raise revenue. Home rule- the right of a locality to self-government. Usually granted by the state through a charter; a document that outlines the powers organization, and responsibilities of a local government. This gives localities freedom to make local decisions. Home rule can be granted in 2 forms: legislatures may approve home rule in general act charters, which apply to all cities, or in special carters, which affects only one community

6 ch4 pg 100 103 30 min

Political cultures, geography, geology, demographics, and history have an influence that choices that state and local governments make. geography- Some states use sales tax policy as a competitive edge. Delaware recruits shoppers from Mid-Atlantic states to its outlet malls with "no sales tax" advertisements. While Hawaii charges 4.0 to 4.7 percent of tax on nearly everything sold. Geology- Plays a role in states economies like Wyoming, Alaska, and North Dakota. Taxes on natural resources allow state and local governments like Alaska to maintain high levels of spending with very low tax burdens. Funds are also redistributed to state citizens; Alaskan citizens receive a yearly dividend check that totaled to about $2,072 in 2015. Demographics- this determines state and local government attitude toward taxes. A city with a strong economy and rising house prices will attract young workers with children. were their children these people will to spend money on local school and property tax revenues. Economic Cycle-

2 go over roperty taxes in the text book.

Property tax has components. Local governments have property assesors. They determine the value of your land and the value of the property. They do this by comparing your property to what other people pay for similar property. If your update your house, you must get permission from the state/county so they know the update to your property. Each year the property assessor sends to the city commission the total value of all of the property in Orlando. Value goes up or down depending on the economy. Value dropped because people started losing their jobs and we made it easier for people to buy property. Led banks taking over homes. Values are up now in Orlando because we require people to have more equity in order to buy homes and pay mortgages. Rent has gone up as well. City, county, and special districts collect property taxes. You get a bill listing all of the governments that have charged you for your property tax. If you live in an apartment, part of your rent goes towards the property tax. Federal owned property is exempt, x religion property is exempt and anything that's correlated to religion is exempt. People/properties that have lower that rates are senior citizens. Property tax is the main revenue for cities and counties. If property is vacant, it can be transferred to agriculture use which lowers property tax. Property tax is the main way to raise money for schools. Used to build schools and pay teachers. Secondary source is state revenue. When the value of a property goes up quickly from one year to the next, your property tax goes up. If you're a retired citizen, this would make it difficult to pay for your property tax. Could put them at risk to lose their home. California put a cap on property tax to avoid elderly people losing their homes from property tax. Called proposition 13 in California. Because of this, the rate flattened out. Quality of services and revenue went down because of it. What's good for all of the citizens trumps what you want.

3 30 min

Regressive taxes: Taxes levied on all taxpayers regardless of income/wealth or ability to pay, placing proportionately more of a burden on those with lower income. Everyone pays the same rate, meaning citizens that have lower income lose more from their wallet because they don't have that much money. For example sales tax, a tax levied by state and local governments on purchases. if bill gates and a college student go into coffee shop and pay for a latte with a sales tax of $0.28, the student will end up paying a higher percentage of his/her income to the government then gates. Progressive Taxes: A system of taxation in which the rate paid reflects ability to pay. Rates vary depends on how wealthy a person is, so whoever earns the most money pays a greater rate of taxes. For example Income tax. In many states, personal income taxes are assessed on a graduated scale, so those who earn more pay a greater percentage of their income in taxes. states adapt this system when they rely heavily on income tax rather than sales tax. Oregon is an example of a state that relies heavily on income tax and doesn't have sales. in 2013, their personal income tax accounted for roughly 2/3rds of all taxes collected by the state.

9

bonds- certificates that are evidence of depths that is issued by a state and local government. creating this debt is to raise money for projects. citizens are promised to be paid back the borrowed money given to the government plus interest on a specific date. capital investment- bonds that are used for investments in infrastructure updates such as new roads, school, and airports. general obligation bonds- investments secured by the taxing power of the jurisdiction that issues them. city of Ireland promises that from their yearly revenue from property taxes, they will repay citizens. that is safe as hell because it is a guarantee, results in lower intrust rate. every city is different based on revenue stream. if you are a poor city you have to give out 10% interest, the solid city will charge 3% interest rate. revenue bonds- investments secured by the revenue generated by state or municipal projects. a specific project like the turn pick. you wot get repaid unless they collect that money from tolls. Jacksonville issues bond for the bridge, they will put tolls on the bridge to pay the citizens back in a certain amount of time. unfunded mandate- Federal laws that direct state and local government to adopt certain laws and rules but, provide no financial support for that action. congress tells the state of Florida to replenish the beaches for 2 miles out, but they do not give the state money to do that. The federal government take all the credit while the state and localities do the dirty work for finding funds and running the programme

11 3 structures. pg 355-357

county commision system- A form of county government in which executive, legislative, and administrative powers are vested in elected commissioners. they exercise legislative powers by passing county ordinance and approving the budget. also, hold executive powers, responsible for a broad range of hiring and firing decisions and exercises considerable control over many administrative offices. MEmbers may be called county commissioners, supervisors, selectmen, county board members, or judges. In Louisiana, their locally elected legislators are called parish jurors. Council-executive system- A form of county governance in which powers are vested in a county commision and executive powers are vested in an independently elected executive. It is the most significant reform of county government. The county executives frequently have the power to veto ordinances passed by the board of commissioners and the authority to appoint key department heads. commision administrator system- A form of county governance in which executive legislative powers reside with an elected commission, which hires a professional executive to manage the day-to-day operations of government. Commissioners can hire and fire administrative department heads and prepare a budget for the commission's approval.

4&5 1hr

sin tax- designed to raise revenue for state and local governments. States make a judgment call on how they apply sin taxes, the factors that often influence what gets taxed, and how much; what is harmful? Alcohol and Tobacco are examples of items that are sin taxed. North Carolina, which has a large tobacco-growing industry, levied a tax of only $0.45 on each pack of cigarettes while; while New York, which has no large-scale tobacco industry, levied a tax of $4.35. In Florida, a pack of tobacco is taxed $1.34. Beer tax for Florida is $0.48 cents a gallon and liquor tax $6.50 per gallon. Florida gets their revenue from sin taxes, sales tax, gas tax, stamp tax, hotel tax and property tax for local governments. Severance taxes- Taxes in natural resources that are removed from the state. 32 states use this type of tax. North Dakota, Alaska, and Wyoming are the only states that raise real money from severance tax because they have a lot of coal, oil, and natural gases. Florida is known for containing Phosphate and Solid Minerals. Phosphate rock producers are taxed $1.80 per ton, and the annual production of heavy minerals are taxed $3.98 per ton. Producers of gas also pay a severance tax in Florida. However, not every state has valuable natural resources. Such as Washington who taxes oysters, salmon, and other game fish caught in the state. If a state does have a lot of natural resources, they don't need to impose much taxes because they are getting the money from severance taxes.

12 357-360

strong mayor- A municipal government in which the mayor has the power to perform the executive functions of government. The council makes a decision but the mayor can veto the actions weak mayor- A municipal government in which the mayor lacks true executive powers, such as the ability to veto council decisions or appoint department heads. The mayor is basically a figurehead giving eys to the city. The mayor will be apart of the city council but won't have executive authority. mayor-council system- A form of municipal governance in which there are an elected executive and an elected legislature. Voters pick a council and mayor but the council will appoint the city manager to run the city, must have a bachelors degree. Clermont, FL has this form of government. the city council can boot out the manager any time they want by the supermajority vote, there is no job security. In both strong and weak mayor systems, the council serves as the municipal-level legislature and can wield extensive policymaking power. Councils average 6 members, but in large jurisdictions, 12-14 members are elected.