SCRANTON TIMES-TRIBUNE: …BUSINESSES: Large-enough companies will benefit because the capital stock and franchise tax goes away come January. The governor proposes cutting the corporate net income tax from 9.99 percent to 6.99 percent by 2025 with the first cut – to 9.89 percent – going into effect in January 2015. The cap on deductible net operating losses would rise from $3 million to $5 million over the next two years. New small-business owners will be able to deduct up to $5,000 of start-up costs from their taxes.
SCHOOL DISTRICTS: They get an extra $90 million in basic education funding, their first increase in two years, and more state funding than before, but still well below what they got in the last year of Gov. Ed Rendell’s administration, because federal money went away…
STATE EMPLOYEES: They get a pay raise, but the governor wants them to work 40 hours a week instead of 37.5. New employees will have to go into a cash-based pension plan that requires them to contribute 6.25 percent of their salaries toward retirement. Future benefits for current employees would also be lowered through a lower multiplier and other reforms. Current employees can keep their current multiplier if they contribute more to pensions. The governor also proposes eliminating about 900 positions… (more)
