Review all tax policy to lighten burden on farmers

Some progress on reductions, but no top-to-bottom review

Updated: Thursday, April 4th, 2013 | By Dave Umhoefer

In the 2010 campaign, Gov. Scott Walker tailored some of his tax-and-spending promises to farmers.

He promised on his campaign website that, "My administration will conduct a comprehensive review of all tax policy that impacts farmers, eliminate tax barriers to production, and rein in government spending so that farmers can invest in their operations instead of sending more money to the state treasury.”

As governor, he signed a major tax-reduction bill inserted into his first budget by GOP lawmakers that directly addresses costs at agribusinesses.

The legislation reduces the state tax on the production earnings of manufacturers and agricultural businesses to almost nothing by 2016, the Journal Sentinel reported. Its cost was estimated at $359 million in five years, then $128 million annually after phase in.

Walker"s efforts to virtually freeze property tax collections statewide also have held down tax bills for farmers.

On the spending side, Walker made significant cuts in education aid and other programs to help fund, in effect, such tax cuts.

His actions are in line with the bulk of the multifaceted promise he made on fiscal policies affecting farmers.

We have not seen a top-to-bottom review of tax policy affecting farmers.

So for now, we'll call this In the Works.

Sources:

Email interview with Jocelyn Webster, spokeswoman for Gov. Scott Walker, March 22, 2013