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Politics

City, county officials make their case

The House plan to cut property taxes would eliminate muscle as well as fat, they maintain.

By ALEX LEARY
Published March 10, 2007

TALLAHASSEE - The state Capitol heard what sounded like a funeral dirge Friday.

One by one, city and county officials approached the podium and testified that the House Republicans' plan to cut property taxes would be devastating.

"You are not talking about cutting away fat; you are talking about cutting away muscle," Clearwater Mayor Frank Hibbard said, warning $18-million in cuts would come out of libraries and fire services.

"I stand before you guilty; we are spending money," said Polk County Commissioner Bob English. But, he quickly added, it has gone for roads, jails and parks. He described a scene in which hundreds of criminals suddenly roam the streets.

But Rep. Ray Sansom, R-Destin, a member of the House panel listening to the complaints, seemed unmoved. "It's predictable," he said.

At the close of the first week of the legislative session, however, it was clear that the steady criticism is having some effect. And it is not coming just from local government officials.

Some House Republicans have begun to question the plan, which calls in part for rolling back tax rates to 2001 levels and imposing a cap on future collections. The proposal estimates taxpayers will see their bills drop about 19 percent.

Rep. Don Brown, one of the most conservative members in the House, said Friday that the universal approach would severely affect small counties.

And this week, several key senators also questioned the scope of the House proposal, saying a rollback should be to 2004 instead. The Senate also seems lukewarm to the broader House plan to scrap all property taxes on homesteads in exchange for an increase of 2.5 cents on the dollar in the state sales tax.

Sansom and other Republican House leaders intend to vote on the proposals Friday. Sansom said he not averse to debating alternatives, but noted leadership would not have advanced the plan had it not felt it would work.

He resisted calls to slow down the process. "As you heard the governor say Tuesday ... we need to respond this year. Businesses are closing up. Citizens can't afford taxes."

Majority Leader Marty Bowen, R-Haines City, said the average county is only being asked to shave 9 percent from its budget. The county and city argument that the first thing to go would be vital services, she said, "is simply not credible."

[Last modified March 9, 2007, 22:58:32]