BY MICHAEL HAWTHORNE
Enquirer Columbus Bureau
COLUMBUS -- State lawmakers wanted taxpayers to calculate their own tax cuts, but Gov. George Voinovich decided Wednesday that thousands of Ohioans wouldn't be able to handle the math.
In signing a grab-bag bill of policy changes and corrections to the two-year state budget, Mr. Voinovich vetoed a provision that lawmakers thought would make it more clear to taxpayers that they were getting a tax cut.
"I believe we can achieve this objective without requiring taxpayers to complete an additional calculation on their returns," Mr. Voinovich wrote in his veto message.
A portion of the bill signed into law promises public schools more money for construction projects without actually earmarking any funds from the state treasury.
Businesses and utilities, meanwhile, will be protected from paying new city taxes under a provision that overturned an Ohio Supreme Court decision handed down last month.
The portion Mr. Voinovich vetoed maintains the state Department of Taxation's control over calculations for highly touted but little-noticed state income tax cuts.
Legislative budget analysts estimate that higher-than-expected collections will provide Ohioans with a tax cut of at least 8 percent this year, but majority Republicans who drafted the law in 1995 have complained that constituents don't notice they're getting a break.
The tax department estimated the extra calculation would lead to 160,000 errors and discourage some taxpayers from filing their returns by telephone.
"There has been a lot of concern that taxpayers don't understand what this is all about," said Carol Bessey, the state's deputy commissioner for tax policy. "But our mission is to make the filing of tax returns as simple and painless as possible."
Tax cuts for individuals are granted only when Ohio has a budget surplus. The bigger the surplus, the greater the tax cut.
Because lawmakers did not permanently lower tax rates to give money back, the amount returned can be more or less than the previous year.
In January, the Enquirer reported that tax rates actually were higher at every income level than they were the previous year, meaning most Ohioans paid more in state income taxes in 1997 than they did in 1996.
However, budget analysts estimate there is enough surplus cash to provide a cut that is about twice the size of the 3.9 percent rate reduction granted last year.
Under other provisions of the new law:
Future governors will be urged to recommend at least $300 million annually for school construction during each of the next six years. Cities will be prohibited from imposing taxes on utilities or businesses without the approval of lawmakers.
