Cutting Ohio income taxes a mistake

Kasich plan benefits the wealthiest Ohioans, but won’t move the state forward.

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Contact, Zach Schiller, 216.361.9801

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Gov. John Kasich’s proposed tax plan, with its heavy reliance on income-tax cuts, is a poor prescription for prosperity, according to a new policy brief released today by Policy Matters Ohio. The brief noted that:

• The plan would cut taxes on the top 1 percent and raise them, on average, for the bottom 60 percent of Ohio tax filers;
• The $523 million in tax cuts over two years would be better spent on education and needed public services;
• After a decade of tax cuts, hiring by the smallest businesses and overall Ohio job growth have underperformed the nation, and
• 96 percent taxpayers don’t pay the top income-tax rate. The vast bulk of Ohioans benefit from paying income tax instead of higher levels of other taxes.

  “Income-tax cuts have not worked in Ohio,” said Zach Schiller, research director of Policy Matters and author of the brief. “Ohio needs a stronger income tax, not a weaker one.”

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 Policy Matters Ohio is a nonprofit, nonpartisan state policy research institute

with offices in Cleveland and Columbus.