|
|
| |
| Mon, Dec. 1, 2008 |  |
 |
|
||
| |
Hendren to consider tax cut on utilities for poultry farmers next year Friday, Feb 8, 2008 By Jason Wiest Arkansas News Bureau LITTLE ROCK - A Northwest Arkansas lawmaker said Thursday he would look into including poultry farmers in the 2007 sales tax cut on natural gas and electricity for manufacturers during next year's regular legislative session. Sen. Kim Hendren, R-Gravette, learned at a committee meeting Thursday that legislative action would be necessary to include poultry farmers in the new law. "Some of us feel they manufacture a product that we put in our mouth when we go to Kentucky Fried Chicken," Hendren said, adding that a number of lawmakers expressed their support for including the group in the tax cut after the meeting of the Administrative Rules and Regulations Committee of the Legislative Council. "I do think that there was a consensus among the members that were there today that we should take a look at that next session," he said. "It'd sure help those folks if we could get them in there." Hendren said he floated the idea of broadening the tax relief on utilities during last year's session. "We had this conversation when we were drafting the bill and the reason they were left out, and it was a specific omission in leaving them out, because putting poultry in (among other things) ... drove the cost of this thing out of the roof and it was either do this, or do the sales tax on groceries, we couldn't do both," said Sen. Chris Thyer, D-Jonesboro. The tax cut reduced the sales tax on natural gas and electricity for manufacturers to 4.5 percent on July 1, 2007, and will cut the rate another one-half percent this July. The tax cut cost an estimated $35 million and was part of a $319 million tax reduction highlighted by a reduction in the state sales tax on groceries from 6 percent to 3 percent. "This is not asking help for Tyson and Simmons and Peterson and these big integrators, it's asking for assistance to the little farmers," Hendren said. "When you get this time of year where your natural gas bills for four (chicken) houses can run $15,000 a month, by the time these guys pay their payment on their farm loan and pay those gas bills, many of them don't have any money left at all when the settlement check comes in." |
