LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) _ A consultant for Arkansas’ tax-overhaul task force says the state’s economy and population will shrink if state officials use spending reductions to finance an income tax cut.
The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports Regional Economic Models Inc. Senior Economist Peter Evangelakis presented on Monday assessments of the potential fiscal and economic impacts of three proposals to cut individual income taxes and several other tax-overhaul plans.
Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson has proposed decreasing the state’s top individual income tax rate from 6.9 percent to 6 percent. He says $180 million in budget cuts and economic growth would finance the cut.
Evangelakis says the state would see an annual population decrease of 118 from 2019 to 2023. He says total employment would drop by about 1,450 annually during that five-year period.
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