Sioux City Republican Bob Vander Plaats says if he’s elected governor he’ll call for big changes in the state’s tax code. Vander Plaats says one thing he’d do if elected is have the state pick up the tab for one billion dollars worth of K-12 school funding. He says by doing that with K-12 instruction and with mental health disability issues, property taxes will drop. He says it’s the biggest impairment to small business development and growth. Vander Plaats says the state could pick up the extra education tab by doing away with tax exemptions. He says the only exemption right now that he would even consider are for parents who chose to home school or send kids to private school, or those who chose to stay at home during the first five years or their kid’s early childhood. Vander Plaats says getting rid of the exemptions would make filing taxes a lot easier. He says it would be simplified so you could do your tax return on a postcard, so if you made 100-thousand dollars, your tax liability is five-thousand dollars. He says right now we have exemptions for everything. Vander Plaats says everyone would lose their deductions. He says you may pay a little more in income taxes, but you’d also receive a break on you property tax. Vander Plaats will face republican Congressman Jim Nussle of Manchester in the primary next June.
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