Friday, January 22, 2010

Why Is California Broke?

Inquiring minds are asking "Why Is California Broke?" It's a good question. Please consider ...

* California has the 3rd highest state income tax in the nation: 9.55% tax bracket at $47,055 and 10.55% at $1,000,000 - Tax Foundation 2010 State Business Tax Climate Table 2 http://www.taxfoundation.org/files/bp59.pdf
* California has the highest state sales tax rate in the nation by far at 8.25%. Indiana is next highest at 7%. Table 15
* California corporate income tax rate is 3rd worst in the nation with a rate of 8.84%. - Table 2 and Table 8
* California ranks 13th in property taxes. Table 2
* California has the fourth highest capital gains tax 9.55%. - Capital Gains Tax Rates By State http://www.thereibrain.com/realestate-b ... state/109/
* California has the highest gasoline tax as of January 2010, averaging 65 cents/gallon. The national average is 47.4% - API Motor Fuel Taxes http://www.api.org/statistics/fueltaxes/
* California has one of the highest state vehicle license car taxes, 1.15% per year on value of vehicle, up from 0.65% in 2008. [expired link]


So where's the money going?

* 1 in 5 in LA County receiving public aid, nearly 2.2 million people as of February 2009. 20% in Los Angeles County receive public aid http://articles.latimes.com/2009/feb/22 ... -welfare22
* California has 12% of the nation’s population, but 36% of the country’s TANF (“Temporaryâ€