The Nashville Peace and Justice Center support the position of
Tennesseans for Fair Taxation in calling for tax reform in Tennessee.
Tennessee's current system is unfair to low- and middle-income families, it's
fiscally unsound, and it denies our children the future they deserve.
First and foremost, Tennessee's system is unfair. By relying
so heavily on the sales tax on food, clothing, and other basic necessities,
Tennessee forces low- income families to pay over three times the taxes as a
portion of their income than high-income families do. This is not only
unfair, it's immoral
Tennessee's system is fiscally unsound. The sales tax, from
which Tennessee received the bulk of its state revenue, is becoming increasingly
ineffective in the current economy and age of technology. The shift to
a service based economy is pushing an increasingly large portion of the economic
activity outside of the sales tax base. As well, the growing use of internet
and catalogue shopping is creating an ever growing loophole in the sales tax
base.
This fiscally unsound tax base means Tennessee's tax base is continually
shrinking. This deprives Tennessee's children from the future they deserve.
Education in Tennessee is horribly under funded. Tennessee ranks 45th
in the amount of funding per pupil in K-12. Only two states graduate fewer
high school and college students per capita than Tennessee: Arkansas and
West Virginia.
It's time for a change. It's time for tax reform.
The Nashville Peace and Justice Center joins others with the Tennesseans for
Fair Taxation coalition in calling for tax reform, including the elimination
of the state tax on food, reduction of the overall sales tax on other items,
and the enactment of a personal income tax (earned and unearned income) with
generous per person deductions. This would replace the current Hall Tax
on unearned income only. Under the most recent tax reform proposal, families
making $45,000 or less would see a tax cut.
Tennessee deserves better. Tennessee deserves tax reform.
In solidarity,
Randall Venson,
Board Chair, NPJC and
Marsha Hyne Lanier, MSW,
Director/Coordinator NPJC
for the Board of the Nashville Peace and Justice Center
