This fall’s ballot fights will reshape state taxes from California to Florida

The useful part

Some states, such as California, will weigh whether to tax — or untax — their wealthiest residents. Others, such as Florida, are considering a myriad of mostly conservative-backed measures to cut property or income taxes. "Florida is reflecting the broader conversation about property taxes right now.

How it works

• In Colorado, voters will decide on a similar measure, which would raise taxes on the state's highest-income households and cut taxes for nearly everyone else by replacing the state's flat tax.
• Most people don't know how much they paid in sales tax last year, but they almost certainly know the total on their property tax bill.
• In North Carolina, a proposed ballot measure that would cap how much cities and other local governments can grow their revenue sailed through the House and Senate.
• It's similar to a proposed Colorado measure that would cap that state's flat 4.4% corporate and personal income tax rate.
• An August poll showed Iowa voters split on the issue, with about a third of likely voters planning to vote in favor, 36% planning to vote against, and another 30% undecided.

What to take from it

Because the tax is earmarked, some groups oppose it because the funds couldn't be used to support programs including affordable housing and subsidized child care. Ron DeSantis' administration and later amended by GOP legislators — was "akin to a political slogan" and violated state law because it was misleading. That's partly because they're among the most "visible" taxes, she said.

Example or evidence

• Property taxes are the largest single source of revenue for local services including public school buildings, libraries, parks and emergency services, according to the North Carolina Budget & Tax Center.
• Voters to decide fate of state taxes this fall • Nebraska Examiner Skip to main content 9:08 republished This fall, voters in at least nine states will decide whether to cut, cap or raise taxes through...
• "The California wealth tax is part of a broader conversation regarding the wealthy having to pay their fair share," said Janelle Fritts, senior policy analyst at the Tax Foundation, a nonpartisan tax...
• Taxing the rich California voters in November will weigh a measure no other state has tried: a one-time wealth tax on billionaires.

Details worth keeping

"Any kind of tax elimination is going to require a lot of tradeoffs." Below is a rundown on the states where tax measures are on the ballot, and how they could reshape the money available for communities to spend on public services. Proposition 40 would take 5% of billionaires' net worth in order to raise tens of billions to close budget holes the state's Medicaid, food assistance, education and other programs. California's 250 billionaires are collectively worth $2.3 trillion, equal to the entire income of all 20 million California taxpayers, according to a September letter written in support of Proposition 40 by a group of six Nobel Prize-winning economists.