Don't Mess With Taxes

Some Congressional seats are still up for grabs, but the results are in for the ballot questions put to voters on Tuesday.

The biggie was in Massachusetts, where residents decided that the best way to keep paying for state services was to continue collecting the state's income tax.

According to the National Conference of State Legislators, 2008 was a pretty normal year number-wise for citizen initiated ballot questions. There were 59 such measures. In addition, voters decided on 84 legislative referenda, two popular referenda and eight other ballot questions.

Here are the results of the ballot measures I previewed before the Nov. 4 day of reckoning.

Massachusetts
Question 1, to repeal the state's income tax on wages, interest, dividends and capital gains, was DEFEATED. The tally was a decisive 901,802 for repeal of the tax to 2,063,891 to continue to collect the Bay State's 5.3 percent income tax.

Florida
Amendment 4 amends the state's constitution to exempt land that is permanently set aside for conservation from all property taxes. It PASSED with 68.4 percent of the vote and takes effect in 2010.

Amendment 8, would have authorized local option sales tax levies for counties that would have gone toward community college funding. It FAILED, garnering only 43.5 percent of the vote.

Nevada
Question 3 requires the state legislature to determine the social and economic purpose and benefits of any property tax or sales tax exemptions before enacting such exemptions. It was APPROVED with 60% of the vote.

Question 4 would have allowed Nevada's legislature to change sales taxes without voter approval. It was DEFEATED, with only 27 percent of the electorate voting for it.

Colorado
Initiative 128/Amendment 51 would have increased the Rocky Mountain State's sales and use tax rate with the funds dedicated to services that help the developmentally-disabled with daily living tasks. The proposal was DEFEATED, receiving only with 37% of the vote.

North Dakota
Measure Two, AKA the Income Tax Initiative, would have lowered North Dakota's state corporate income tax rates by 15 percent and the adjusted state individual income tax rates by 50 percent beginning with the 2009 tax year. It FAILED, receiving 91,182 "yes" votes and 210,253 "no" votes.

Maine
The Dirigio Tax Referendum to repeal the law that increased excise taxes on beer, wine and soda (and a few other things) was APPROVED, getting approval from 64 percent of Maine's voters. Yes, this was one of those ballot measures worded so that a "yes" vote produced a negative result. The extra tax money that was nixed would have gone to support the Dirigo Health Choices program.

Missouri
Proposition A provides new revenue to Missouri schools by increasing the state tax casinos pay to 21 percent and eliminating the state's $500 buy-in limit, often described as a "loss limit." Show Me State voters APPROVED the measure by "yes" vote of 56.2 percent.

Oklahoma
Question No. 741 requires Oklahoma individuals and businesses to file an application in order to be considered for a property tax exemption. Sixty-eight percent of Sooner State voters APPROVED the measure.

Oregon
Ballot Measure 59 would have allowed unlimited deductions for federal income taxes on state income tax returns. Beaver State voters DEFEATED the measure, with only 37 percent of voters supporting it.

Georgia
Amendment 1, the Georgia Forest Preservation Amendment, encourage the preservation, conservation, and protection of the state's forests through special assessment and taxation of certain forest lands. Peach State voters APPROVED the measure.

Minnesota
The Sales Tax Increase constitutional amendment authorizes a 3/8 of one percent tax increase will fund clean water, natural areas, parks and the arts. It was APPROVED by almost 57 percent of the voters.

Ballotpedia has results for other tax-related ballot initiatives, as does the Tax Foundations Tax Policy Blog.

And just in case you want to see what happened on nontax ballot matters, check out Ballotpedia's 2008 election results page.