Louisiana ranks last among taxpayer ROI ranking

According to a WalletHub study, States with the Best & Worst Taxpayer ROI, Louisiana ranks last in the quality of the public services it provides its residents– including public education, health care and public safety.

Louisiana also ranks 46th for taxpayers not getting a good return on their investments (ROI), according to the study.

According to WalletHub’s Taxpayer Survey, 55 percent of U.S. adults say they pay too much in taxes and 90 percent believe the government doesn’t spend tax revenue wisely.

The report contrasts state and local tax collections with the quality of the services residents receive in each of the 50 states within five categories: Education, Health, Safety, Economy, and Infrastructure & Pollution, using 30 key metrics.

Louisiana ranks 13th for total taxes paid per capita and 50th for overall government services.

Louisiana also scored in the bottom for the following:

  • 44th education, but 49th for worst school system;
  • 45th for health;
  • 46th for worst water quality; infrastructure and pollution;
  • 48th for safety and highest violent crime rate;
  • 48th for economy with highest percentage of residents living in poverty.

“Different states have dramatically different tax burdens” John S Kiernan, senior writer and editor at WalletHub write. “This begs the question of whether people in high-tax states receive superior government services. Likewise, are low-tax states more efficient or do they receive low-quality services? In short, where do taxpayers get the most and least bang for their buck?”

“States and localities with more tax revenue generally do have better services,” David Schleicher, Professor of Law at Yale Law School and WalletHub expert, said. “This is not the same thing as having higher tax rates. If state or local residents have high incomes or lots of property wealth, rates can be lower and still generate lots of revenue. Revenue is a necessary, if not sufficient condition for having good public services.”

On average, the report found that taxpayers in red state got a better ROI than taxpayers in blue states by a different of 10.75 percent.

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