Politicians consistently over promise and under deliver. 

Let the buyer — or in this case the voter — beware. 

Promising to eliminate state income tax and replacing more than $10 billion in lost revenue are not the same thing. 

Gubernatorial hopefuls David Perdue and Vernon Jones are promising to eliminate Georgia’s state income tax. 

Who wouldn’t want to hold on to more of that paycheck each payday? Who wouldn’t want to pay less in taxes? 

Sounds good, perhaps. 

But what it really sounds like is a political campaign bait and switch or just the bait without the switch, an empty campaign promise. 

It has been promised before. Eliminating the state income tax is a popular notion and the pledge has been made by previous candidates, but we still pay the tax every year. 

So, let’s say the state of Georgia eliminates between $10 and $15 billion in annual revenue pulled in from the income tax, where does the funding for state programs come from moving forward? 

Do we just cut spending?

Where do we cut? 

Do we eliminate funding for public schools, public health, state law enforcement and prisons? Do we close all state parks and public facilities? How many state workers will lose their jobs? Simply cutting wasteful spending would only eliminate a token amount of spending compared to the overall state budget. 

If we don’t eliminate basic government services, how do we raise the money to fund those services? The prevailing thought seems to be to raise the state sales tax. Again, voter beware. First, and most importantly, a tax is a tax is a tax. Politicians like to talk about a more fair tax but money out of your pocket is money that you don’t have regardless of how it is levied. 

Then, there is the math. 

A modest, or even a hefty, increase in the sales tax will not make up for the shortfalls from the elimination of the state income tax. Just how much sales tax are you willing to pay? Would you go for doubling it to 8%? How about 10%? Consider 12% but economists say even that is likely not enough. 

Wait, doesn’t Florida fund state government without a sales tax?

Of course it does. 

Florida also has Walt Disney World, Universal Studios, hundreds of miles of beaches, thousands of hotels and a hefty tourism tax. 

The people of Georgia do not need more empty promises. What Georgia needs is leadership and leaders deal in details not empty promises. 

You simply cannot slash more than half of the state’s revenue stream and not expect dire impact. 

It should also be noted that regardless who is elected in 2022, a governor cannot just unilaterally abolish the state’s largest funding stream. 

So, why are candidates for governor and lieutenant governor promising to do exactly that? Clearly, it is a popular notion. It sounds good on the stump but the reality doesn’t match the rhetoric. 

Let the voter be beware. 

Jim Zachary is the editor of The Valdosta Daily Times, CNHI’s director of newsroom training and development and president emeritus of the Georgia First Amendment Foundation.