Despite what you will hear, tax proposal is sensible

TROXLER E-mail: Click here Archive

© St. Petersburg Times
published January 14, 2002

You are about to be hit with a barrage of television advertising about Florida's taxes.

You will be told that "politicians in Tallahassee" are trying to increase your taxes.

The commercials will be calculated to make you angry. They will encourage you to "fight back" and call your state legislator. They will urge you to "ax the tax."

You will see these commercials because Florida's TV stations, along with a lot of other powerful businesses, are afraid they will start to have to pay their fair share of taxes.

Nonetheless, making this change is the right thing to do.

It is the right thing because it will make Florida a better state.

It is the right thing because it is likely to SAVE money for many Floridians.

Here is the truth. Read it. Clip it out. Share it with your neighbors.

Yes, there is a proposal in our Legislature this year to change Florida's taxes.

The idea is to REDUCE the state sales tax, the tax that you and I pay at the cash register on many retail goods. It would be reduced from 6 cents on the dollar to 4 cents.

Six percent, cut to four. A cut.

Now, here is the other part of the deal, and the reason you'll be seeing the TV ads.

A lot of Florida businesses that now do not charge the tax would have to start.

Some of those who do not have to charge tax now are lawyers. Accountants. Advertisers. Landscapers. Dry cleaners. Architects. There are dozens of such loopholes.

These folks do not want to have to start charging tax. They want the rest of us to keep paying the full 6 percent instead.

In fact, the state of Florida gives away more money to them in loopholes than it actually collects in sales taxes -- $23-billion, compared to $17-billion.

Here's the rest of the deal.

For at least the first year, the new system would have to be "revenue neutral." The government could not take in more money than it would have anyway, under the old system.

The Legislature could neither change the tax rate, nor create any new loopholes, without a three-fifths majority.

The essential things in life still would be tax-free. Food. Rent. Health care. Prescriptions. Basic home telephone service.

On top of that, some unpopular taxes would be repealed -- the "intangibles tax" that hits personal savings, a hospital bed tax, a "by the drink" tax that we pay on alcohol.

Here's the best part.

We, the voters, would decide this. We would vote on it as an amendment in our state Constitution this November. The fight in Tallahassee this spring is over whether we will even get the chance.

Here's the truth. If you blow a lot of your money on lawyers, and accountants, and architects, and accountants, and landscapers, and professional services then you might not be better off. You might end up paying more.

But many Floridians would SAVE money. Most of us do not spend the bulk of our money on lawyers, and accountants, and all that. Most of us spend a bigger share of our money on things that are taxed.

Would Florida be better off?

Yes. If Florida broadens its tax base, and taxes fairly, Florida won't go into the toilet every time there is a mild recession. Our tax base will be more stable. We would be better able to meet Florida's needs.

This is not the scheme of a bunch of crazy, liberal, tax-and-spend Democrats.

It is the crusade of John McKay, who is a Republican from Bradenton, and the president of the Florida Senate. Even though McKay showed some waffling on the advertising issue last week, the overall idea is sound.

It is an uphill struggle. Maybe it is a doomed struggle. A team of all the TV stations of Florida -- as well as all the newspapers whose corporate parents also own TV stations -- will be a powerful force.

They will try to whip up a mob to intimidate the Legislature. They will succeed, unless you tell your neighbors the truth, and keep telling them. It's worth a try.

-- You can reach Howard Troxler at (727) 893-8505 or at troxler@sptimes.com.

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