State Question 800 would divert a portion of gross production taxes to a newly created Oklahoma Vision Fund to help smooth out state budget volatility due to fluctuating oil and natural gas tax collections, if approved by voters on November 6. The Oklahoman’s Randy Ellis writes the Oklahoma State Chamber is for it to help stabilize the budget process, while the Oklahoma State School Boards Association believes it will siphon funds from schools without a replacement.
Read The Oklahoman story here.
The biggest problem with oil & gas tax collections is with the way it is taxed. The volume we produce is much more stable than the price it sells for. But taxing on volume would reduce government’s opportunity to spend the excess wildly during the good times and to complain incessantly about the shortfalls when prices turned down.