Just before Thanksgiving and with all the votes finally counted, Arizona officials met to certify the state’s results from an election in which Arizonans chose free enterprise. From state ballot measures to local ballot measures to state legislative races, free enterprise notched key victories up and down the ballot. Although several positive ballot measures came up short, Arizonans made clear that the principles of free enterprise matter and rewarded candidates who support those principles. An outline of some of the key results is below.

Ballot Measures

Prop 312 – This crucial measure allowing property owners to apply for property tax refunds if a county or municipality fails to enforce nuisance laws passed with more than 58 percent of the vote statewide. As a result, Arizonans will be able to recover certain costs associated with unmitigated expenses related to homelessness, vandalism and property crime, and drug use. There are potentially billions of dollars at risk in lost property values if these laws go unenforced, and Arizonans recognized the importance of the rule of law and private property protections to our free enterprise system. This measure will hopefully cause local governments to embrace the rule of law and reconsider turning a blind eye to such nuisance crimes, which, in the aggregate, represent high stakes for Arizona.

Glendale Prop 499 – This initiated measure was rejected, for good reason, by more than 56 percent of Glendale voters who refused to impose a $20 per hour minimum wage for hospitality workers. The measure also would have imposed other standards and workplace restrictions for the industry. If passed, this extreme measure would have reduced Glendale’s GDP by hundreds of millions of dollars and put thousands of jobs at risk. The harms of extreme proposals like this one include reduced hours, lower eligibility for benefits and less consistent schedules for employees as well as higher prices and more confusion for customers. Separately, a statewide minimum wage measure failed to collect enough signatures to even make it on the ballot. In both cases, Arizonans saw through these proposals and rejected the harm they were being asked to enact.

Two other legislative referrals, Prop 138—which would have preserved the tipped wage credit and protected tipped workers from future harmful ballot measures—and Prop 315—which would have helped rein in state regulatory overreach—were both, unfortunately, part of a long slate of measures rejected by voters. Both proposals are worth additional consideration and may come up again in future legislative sessions.

When Georgians went to the polls last month, among the many races on the ballot was a measure crucial to Georgia’s small businesses that will increase Georgia’s personal property tax exemption from $7,500 to $20,000. Georgians overwhelmingly voted yes, with more than 64 percent supporting the measure to relieve some of the burden on small businesses in the state. The measure was referred to the ballot by Georgia’s General Assembly via HB 808, which passed with bipartisan support and was signed by Governor Brian Kemp in May.

Why this tax exemption matters to small businesses

There are hundreds of thousands of small businesses across the state of Georgia. In fact, more than 175 thousand businesses in Georgia have fewer than 20 employees, over 87 percent of Georgia’s total firms. These small firms employ more than 628,000 Georgians and pay out more than $28.6 billion in wages annually. These firms also face numerous other operating costs and taxes, including income taxes, real estate property taxes, and tangible personal property taxes. Most people are familiar with property taxes on real estate, paid by individual homeowners and businesses, and tangible personal property taxes are similar. These are taxes paid based on the value of non-real estate assets owned by the business, including office equipment, machinery, supplies, and furniture.

Unlike real estate property taxes, the government doesn’t value the asset itself and then send a bill, so businesses must go through the costly compliance process of calculating the value of every business asset and then paying the appropriate tax. For many small businesses, particularly those with minimal assets, the costs associated with calculating and paying the taxes may actually be higher than the taxes owed.

About half of the states, including Georgia, exempt all or some portion of tangible personal property from taxes. Georgia’s current exemption is more than 20 years old and dates back to a 2002 ballot referendum that was approved by more than 72 percent of voters. Prior to this year’s change, the state exempted up to $7,500 in assets, which was the second lowest amount of all the state exemptions. By increasing the exemption to $20,000, Georgia will be much closer to what other states exempt.

At a time when small businesses face significant uncertainty and 22 percent of small business owners say inflation is their top concern, this tax change will provide some much-needed relief to small businesses in the state.

Other Ballot Measures

Georgians also voted overwhelmingly for Constitutional Amendment 1, which allows for the implementation of a statewide homestead exemption. This will provide relief from rising property taxes for Georgia homeowners. Constitutional Amendment 2 also narrowly passed and will create a new state court specifically with jurisdiction over tax issues. Both amendments were also referred to ballot by the legislature.and the end of the year, it may be cause for alarm. Construction jobs dropped marginally this month but have largely rebounded after a series of poor monthly reports in the spring, and the industry is now slightly up in 2024.