We’re No. 1 but unfortunately for Louisiana, it’s again on a list of things not good, this time for the having the highest sales taxes in the country.

While we see news reports how sales taxes increased a penny on April 1, that’s not quite accurate as the repeal of numerous exemptions that had been in place mean we’ll be paying five cents more in sales taxes on many purchases.

Sales tax exemptions that have been temporarily suspended mean we’ll now be paying sales taxes on things like Girl Scout cookies, admission fees for fair and festivals for nonprofit organizations as well as for parking, room rentals at camp or retreat facilities operated by nonprofits, admission to athletic events of schools, colleges and universities, admission tickets for Little Theater organizations and a lot more.

From April through June the previously exempt items will be subject to the whole 5-percent state sales tax, then in July through June 2018 two cents of the exemptions will go back in place leaving us to pay 3-cents state sales tax. If things go according to plan, the exemptions will then go back into place in July 2018.

We all know about the deficit for the state’s current fiscal year and the projected deficit for the next fiscal year, and understand the legislature was backed into a corner so it had to take extreme measures to balance the budget, fast.

But we also know the legislature and state government officials knew years ago a lot of this was coming and yet kept kicking the can down the road instead of addressing state spending.

We can only hope that this time — unlike the several previous times when the state’s been in a financial crisis — our state leaders will really do something to change the system and find a better balance between state spending and raising taxes.

That we now have the highest sales taxes in the country isn’t going to be much to brag about to prospective residents or to businesses we’re trying to lure to locate in our state.

That local businesses are going to have to figure out how these new taxes affect them, and make the changes to collect and report them isn’t going to be easy or cheap, much less that they’ll have to make changes again in July.

There’s no real positive spin to be put on this. These tax increases were desperate measures to address dire financial circumstances the state faces.

The only good thing that can come out of this would be if — and it’s the same big if we’ve faced before — this time will our state’s leaders really make meaningful changes in state operations that really, finally, actually do change the way the state’s been operating for too many years, spending more than our state can really afford.

We’re No. 1 for the highest sales taxes in the country and it’s not something about which we should be proud.

WILL CHAPMAN

PUBLISHER