Brewer puts state budget hole at $4B, unveils tax increase, budget plans - Pittsburgh Business Times:

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Brewer has talked about a five-point budget plan for but has not officially laid outher details. The Republicahn governor sent a budget outline to the Legislature on It includes asking voters to approvea 1-cent increase to the state’s 5.6 percenf sales tax. She does not want to extendf the sales tax to currently exempted services and A Democratic plan unleashed last week wouldd lower the salestax rate, but extend it to variousx services not already taxed. The governor’s budgeft plan puts the fiscal 2010 deficitat $4 billion, up from previousz estimates of $3 billion.
Brewer’s budget also calls for a three-yeaf phase-out of the $250 millioh state equalization rateproperty tax. That tax has been on but will come back at the end of the year withoutfurther action. Business and real estate group s favor a full repeal of theequalizatiom tax. “While the governor’s budget regarding statre equalization repeal is astep forward, our organization cannotf accept multiple historic tax increases without requisits spending cuts that approach what the private sector has already endured,” said Tim Lawless, Arizona presiden of the National Association of Industrial and Office Propertiess real estate group.
“Noa is especially not the time to raise property taxesw withthe Prop. 13 movement lurking. We are open, however, to a ballot referral that lets the people decide whether they want the sales tax rated increased along with a future ballot measure to adjust automaticcspending increases.” Lawless warnedd that bringing back a property tax that hits both homeowners and businessea could help spur 2010 ballot measures that impose Californis Proposition 13-style restrictions on property taxation.
Brewefr said the sales tax increase would be and she would like to see some reductions down the road to corporats and business taxes to help attract investments to the Antitax advocates and conservative lawmakers oppose the salesw tax increase and want to try to solvd the fiscal 2010 budget withoutraising taxes. Brewe has promised to veto budgets that rely too much on federapl stimulus money and programm cuts to balancethe budget. The governor’s budget also lookse to protect university and publicc health funding via federalstimulus money, and wants votera in 2010 to undo current restrictionz that keep the Legislature from cutting voter-mandater spending.
Teachers unions and Democrats opposethat