Economist: ID headed in the wrong direction

When it comes to taxes and revenues, the state of Idaho is headed in the wrong direction, according to the executive director of the Idaho Center for Fiscal Policy Michael Ferguson.

Ferguson has worked for both democrats and republicans as the governor’s Chief Economist for the last 25 years, and he started the non-partisan center as a way to educate people about how the state is handling their money. In a speech at Pocatello City Hall on Tuesday, he said that the legislature is not holding up its end of the deal.

Since 2000, Idaho has seen a 23 percent decline in education spending, doubling the number of districts that need to pass supplemental levies.

“We’re seeing a lot of school districts going to four day school weeks, (having) difficulty meeting the basic needs,” Ferguson said.

The Idaho constitution requires the legislature to fund a “thorough and uniform” system of public schools, but with drastically different supplemental levies statewide, that doesn’t happen, he said.

The second wealthiest district in the state is McCall, which spends $4.6 million per student. The poorest district is Snake River, with just $154,000 per student.

“To raise the same amount of money, the levy would have to be 30 times as high in Snake River as it would have to be in McCall,” Ferguson said.

Ferguson said he knows that regular Idahoans care about education; they’re paying for a $25 million increase in levies for the fiscal year 2013 alone, but, he said, the legislature isn’t supporting them.

“Everyone, I think, is concerned about good education for their children, and what we’re seeing is really slipping resources — a diminishment in our state’s commitment to funding education,” Ferguson said.

Ferguson offered his explanation for the decrease in funding, and it started when the state experienced economic difficulty in the 80s, he said. Idaho raised sales and income taxes, and throughout the 80s and 90s Idaho had stable education funding.

But come 2000, those increases turned into cuts to the tune of $350 million. Ferguson said that Idahoans keep hearing promises of increased jobs from tax cuts, but, he said, there is no data backing up the idea tax cuts will benefit commerce.

“Idaho has gone from performing at the top of the charts, outperforming virtually ever other state, to entering the great recession earlier, going deeper and coming out later,” he said.

This isn’t a partisan issue, Ferguson said, but a question of what kind of investment Idahoans want to make in the future of the state.

“Even with overrides, school districts are having four day school weeks, and I guess the question is, is this the investment we want to make in our kids?” he said.

Ferguson is traveling the state and putting out free information to try to pull Idaho back from the brink, he said.

“(People need to) educate themselves on what the fiscal situation is and take that and talk to the legislators. Because ultimately this is in the hands of the legislature,” Ferguson said.

Ferguson also said that passing the Idaho Association of Commerce and Industry’s proposed personal property legislation would put Idaho’s total revenue loss at around $450 million.

The Bannock County Democrats and Republicans, as well as the League of Women Voters, brought Ferguson to speak in Pocatello.