Signatures fall short in sales tax repeal effort

Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell vowed to continue the repeal effort.
By JEFF ORTEGA
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
COLUMBUS -- An attempt to get the GOP-led Legislature to repeal the temporary 1-cent increase in the state sales tax has so far fallen short of the necessary signatures to move forward.
The secretary of state's office said Citizens for Tax Repeal needs 96,870 valid signatures to force state lawmakers to consider the repeal of the tax increase passed by state lawmakers last year as part of the two-year, $48.8 billion state budget.
The group, of which GOP Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell is the honorary chairman, has fallen short so far by 2,081 signatures, secretary of state spokesman Carlo LoParo said Thursday.
Backers of the proposed repeal can collect additional so-called "supplemental" signatures at any time, LoParo said.
Backers will be able to file those additional signatures up to 10 days after being notified by the secretary of state, a process that won't happen until after the resolution of petition challenges pending at the county level around the state.
Vows to continue
In a prepared statement, Blackwell, a potential 2006 gubernatorial candidate, vowed to push forward.
"We will get enough supplemental signatures to make sure the people's voice is heard by the Legislature and the governor," Blackwell's statement said.
In the past, Blackwell has said the tax increase, which is to generate $1.3 billion a year for state coffers, was unnecessary.
Opponents of the repeal effort were ecstatic to hear that the effort was thus far coming up short.
"The effort of the secretary of state and his de facto leadership of the Citizens for Tax Repeal is falling apart," said Mark Hatch, a spokesman for the anti-repeal Ohioans for Fiscal Responsibility.
OFR is made up of public-employee unions such as the Ohio Federation of Teachers, the Ohio Education Association and the Ohio Association of Public School Employees Association.
The proposed repeal, if it moves forward, would eliminate the sales tax boost this December instead of its scheduled June 30, 2005, sunset.
Potential revenue losses
A study done by the Cleveland-based Federation for Community Planning think tank said Ohio would lose $813.8 million in revenue if the sales tax increase is repealed at the end of 2004 instead of June 30, 2005.
The state taxation department puts the anticipated revenue loss at $798 million, if the proposed repeal succeeds.
The potential loss of state funding had social-services advocates and public-employee groups alarmed.
"It would be huge," Hatch said.
"Ohioans have come to expect services that enhance their quality of life. To have an $800 million or more hit would have been devastating to all kinds of services."
If Citizens for Tax Repeal attains the necessary number of signatures, state lawmakers would have had four months to act on the repeal.
If there was still no movement, Blackwell and his forces would have had four months to gather 96,780 valid signatures to place the issue before voters statewide in November.