Governor urges elimination of income tax duirng year-end review

First of a three-part series

COLUMBUS

It was less than three minutes into his year-end review that Gov. John Kasich focused his attention on taxes.

He touted cuts implemented since he took office five years ago, including provisions in the last biennial budget phasing out taxes on small-business income up to $250,000 and instituting an across-the-board 6.3 percent reduction for all brackets.

But the governor said more needs to be done to shift Ohio away from its reliance on income taxes to a system that taxes consumption.

“We killed the income tax for small business,” he said. “We have to lower the income tax more. With income taxes high, people just kind of look the other way. ... We are going to continue on tax reform. We have to tax consumption and reduce [taxation of] risk taking, investment and job creation. That’s the way it has to be, so we’re going to continue to push for that.”

He added, “We have to lead on this, because the lower that income tax, the better we do.”

Kasich offered the comments during a speech before an audience of cabinet and chamber of commerce members in his suburban Columbus hometown of Westerville, where he was joined by legislative leaders and others in recapping the past year’s accomplishments.

Read five more things Kasich said during his year-end review in Wednesday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.