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On tax deadline day last month, OFBF President Bob Peterson and Treasurer Jeff Zellers joined Gov. Bob Taft and other state officials as they traveled around the state to help promote the governor’s tax and budget reforms.

The purpose of having the event on April 15 was to emphasize that Taft’s budget proposal would result in tax savings for most Ohioans. His proposal would cut personal income tax rates by 21 percent over five years. The average family of four would have its personal income and sales tax drop by $555 annually.

The House passed its version of the biennial budget last month with Taft’s tax proposal mostly intact. The Senate is currently reviewing the bill. Taft must sign the new budget by July 1.

Ohio Farm Bureau has joined more than 120 Ohio businesses and trade associations in supporting the budget proposal, which also would phase out the tax on equipment and inventory and the corporate tax, replacing them with a commercial activity tax (CAT).

The CAT would levy .26 percent on all sales of $1 million or more. Those with sales of between $40,000 and $1 million would pay a $100 fee. While OFBF supports the overall budget proposal, the organization has been trying to eliminate or reduce the $100 fee and raise the threshold from $40,000 to $500,000, said Rocky Black, OFBF’s director of legislative affairs.

OFBF also is trying to address the concerns of the grain and feed industry, which has high volume and low margin of sales, Black said.

Taft and Peterson, joined by other business leaders, spoke April 15 in Columbus, Dayton and Cincinnati. Zellers was with Lieutenant Gov. Bruce Johnson and Tax Commissioner Bill Wilkins at a tax reform event in Youngstown.

"The Ohio Farm Bureau has examined these proposals for several months now and we support them. Not because they’re a big win for agriculture, but because they’re a big win for Ohio," Peterson said. "Some of our members have expressed concerns about these proposals and no doubt some will see increased taxes. But taken as a total package, this is the direction we need to go to bring jobs and investment to the Buckeye state."

Caption: Gov. Bob Taft speaks about his budget proposal as OFBF President Bob Peterson watches. Photo courtesy Taft’s office.