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Whether it was the federal income tax or a national sales tax, school funding or student performance, estate taxes or self-employment taxes, the issue was probably touched on at some point during this summer’s Fact Finding Mission. The program was held at the Westin Great Southern Hotel in downtown Columbus in late August.

The variety wasn’t just seen in the topics. It also was evident in the presenters, who ranged from county auditors to college professors to business advocates to Ohio Tax Commissioner Thomas M. Zaino.

Taxing Ohio’s Future: An Overview of Key Tax Issues gave OFBF members an open floor to question and debate federal and state tax policy with nine different presenters, including Zaino.

In addition to outlining progress made by the state tax department since he became commissioner in mid-1999, Zaino detailed other areas that still need attention and addressed his leadership of a "blue ribbon" commission studying state and local tax policy.

The commission, comprised of three state legislators and three state department heads, is focusing on a March 1, 2003, deadline to have a report completed that:

• Studies current state and local tax structures
• Examines the structures with respect to fairness
• Identifies goals and obstacles to those goals
• Analyzes who bears the brunt of Ohio’s tax burden
• Evaluates priorities within the tax structure.

Any recommendations made by the commission must be revenue neutral, Zaino said.

"The whole idea behind this commission is to make the system better," he said, adding any changes would revolve around what he calls the department’s "principles of tax policy:" simplicity, equity and fairness, stable and sufficient revenue, neutrality and competitiveness.

These principles are evident in the Ohio Department of Taxation’s Mission: "To provide quality service to Ohio taxpayers by helping them comply with their tax responsibilities and by fairly applying the tax law."

A panel featuring four county auditors and an Ohio State University professor kicked off the Fact Finding Mission with discussion on Current Agricultural Use Value and school funding.

Participating in the panel were auditors David Yost of Delaware County, Michael Kovack of Medina County, Harold Yoder of Preble County, and Ken Wilson of Hocking County and Howard Fleeter, an economics professor and consultant with the Education Tax Policy Institute.

Other presenters were:

• Patricia W. Wolff, senior director in congressional relations with the American Farm Bureau Federation in Washington, D.C., who detailed AFBF’s tax priorities: capital gains tax reform, enactment of agricultural risk management accounts and permanent elimination of estate taxes.
• William Rollyson representing Americans for Fair Taxation, who provided information on the group’s proposal to eliminate all federal tax and instill a national sales tax.
• Ohio Sen. Ron Amstutz, R-Wooster, who is co-chairman of the Joint Legislative Committee on High Technology Startups, which released its report on "Moving Ohio’s Economy into the Third Frontier."
• Dan Navin, managing director of legislative affairs for the Ohio Chamber of Commerce, who gave business’s perspective on tax issues.
• Robert Lawson, a professor at Capital University in Columbus and consultant with The Buckeye Institute, who gave an overview of an institute report called "Tax Reform for Ohio’s New Millenium.
• Richard Vedder, an Ohio University professor who gave a humorous and insightful look at how to put tax reform in perspective.