Beshear Seeks Tax Reform

{Frankfort, Kentucky}…Governor Steve Beshear is hoping that, when lawmakers convene in Frankfort Tuesday for a 30-day legislative session, common ground can be found to produce a package of tax reforms. A commission appointed by Beshear last year to recommend tax reforms has proposed changes it predicts would generate $659 million a year in new revenue. The proposals include raising taxes on pensions, assessing a 1 percent utility tax on residents and businesses, increasing the cigarette tax by 40 cents to $1 a pack, expanding the 6 percent sales tax to include more services, though the task force did not identify which services it had in mind, and placing a $17,500 cap on an individual's itemized deductions.