While it is lovely to suggest that we cut taxes across the board, it isn’t realistic. Arizona HAS been cutting business and income taxes since the 1990s and we are already ranked in the middle or lower tiers for taxation by all national surveys.

Ohio is doing a lot of things right, but it worth noting that our property tax here is twice what it is in Arizona. We pay a city income tax both in the city that we work in AND in the municipality where we reside. Our state income tax rate is a couple of points higher than in Arizona (and there are fewer deductions).

No surprise that the Tax Foundation ranks Ohio’s State/Local Business tax burden to be the highest in the nation.

That same conservative Tax Foundation also ranks Ohio 47th for the Business Tax Climate Index…that is one point ahead of everyone’s favorite whipping boy, California.

While this all sounds pretty awful on paper, Ohio also has array of public services and incentives that are really attractive to businesses. They are paid for by all of those aforementioned taxes. I agree with Frank on one thing – Ohio IS attracting new business and investment right now…and they are doing it without dismantling their state in the process.

While I’m all for lowering taxes, there needs to be a comprehensive, intelligent approach to our state budget. The misnamed “Jobs Bill” above is ideological window dressing – Arizona homeowners are going to pay a heavy price to support further business subsidies that go to ‘aid’ mainly AZ utility companies. We need an honest evaluation of our budget situation in the legislature – this isn’t it.