Tax refund

A computer error by the state could mean a tax refund for taxpayers. That Christmas present was offered Tuesday by Gov. Mitch Daniels who reported that Indiana was in a stronger fiscal position with nearly $300 million more than anticipated. A recent internal audit found that some corporate taxes paid by electronic check were put in an account and not transferred to the state general fund. That error occurred since 2007 allowing millions to accumulate. That money besides last month's revenue report, showing revenue was running about $117 million above the forecast will give the state an unexpected surplus. Daniels said the money should be left as surplus to allow an automatic tax refund. According to law, if the reserves are more than 10 percent of the ensuing year's budget, half of it goes to teacher's pensions and the other half is returned to taxpayers. Now Adam Horst, who directs the State Budget Agency, wanted the governor to know the corporate income tax payments made electronically was the only exception. All the other 28 revenue streams of the state were in the appropriate funds in a timely manner. Horst also said it was possible the state could close FY 2012 with more than a $1.7 billion balance that would guarantee that automatic taxpayer refund splitting $300 million between teacher pensions and taxpayers. It's too bad that Mayor Sharon McShurley could not have offered a tax refund when she found Muncie's budget with an unanticipated $3.8 million surplus this fall. Instead, she tried to give employees a $1,000 bonus that obviously did not help her win re-election. Muncie City Council this week eliminated that bonus from a yearend appropriation to pay bills, Council President Sam Marshall said it was up to the next mayor to decide pay for workers who have not see a raise in reent years. Same goes for lots of public employees because property tax caps limits how much money government and schools can spend. Politicians still should always look out for taxpayers and not themselves.

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