Election Day 2014: Top 5 Tax Initiatives on the Ballot

As voters head to the polls, virtually all of them will cast votes for politicians who indirectly impact taxes, but some will also have the chance to vote directly for or against certain state and local tax initiatives. Out of 147 ballot measures across 41 states and the District of Columbia, 15 are tax-related. Here are the top 5:

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1. Millionaire’s surtax in Illinois. Illinois’s electorate will vote their opinions on a 3 percent surtax on income over $1 million, used to support education. Of course, money is fungible, so while the added revenue would be allocated to education, there’s no guarantee it will ever reach the classroom. (In addition to potentially being used to shore up Illinois’s deeply troubled teachers pension system, the added revenue could free up educational funds for increased spending elsewhere.) The vote comes a couple months before the state’s temporary tax increase on the wealthy is set to expire. If implemented (the vote is advisory only; legislators would have to formally approve the tax increase), a millionaires’ surtax could cause even more wealthy individuals to leave the Prairie State.
2. Income tax cap in Georgia. Voters will have the opportunity to enact a constitutional amendment to cap the state’s income tax rate at its current level of 6 percent. If passed, Georgia would become the first state with a constitutional cap on its income tax rate.
3. Preserving Tennessee’s “No Income Tax” status. As residents of one of nine states without an income tax, Tennessee voters will have the opportunity to formally prohibit the state’s legislature from levying state or local taxes on payroll or earned income.
4. Sugar taxes in Berkeley and San Francisco. Voters in two Golden State cities will decide whether or not to assess an additional tax—1 cent per ounce in Berkeley and 2 cents per ounce in San Francisco—on sugary beverages such as soda, sweet tea, and energy and sports drinks. In Berkeley, the additional revenue would augment the city’s general fund whereas the revenues in San Francisco would be used for health-related programs. If passed, San Francisco residents will have to shell out an additional 84 cents for a super-sized beverage, and as much as $2.56 for 7-Eleven’s 128 oz. team gulp.
5. Repeal of gas tax indexing in Massachusetts. In 2013, Massachusetts’s lawmakers passed legislation to tie the state’s gasoline tax to inflation. This meant, after decades of a flat 21-cent tax, the rate is now 26.5 cents per gallon and rising. If passed, the measure would repeal the 2013 legislation and prevent automatic gas tax increases.