Your chance to be heard on Fla. taxes

By A TIMES EDITORIAL
Published October 3, 2007

No lawmaker can credibly defend the fact that ostrich feed is exempt from sales taxes in Florida, but it remains so. The fiscally conservative Florida TaxWatch says $2-billion is lost each year to online purchases that are supposed to be taxed, but aren't. The Department of Revenue identifies $23.4-billion in taxes that could be collected on services, but aren't.

The point is that each dollar lost through special tax breaks is a dollar all the rest of us pay, but don't expect any help from the state capital. Allan Bense, a respected former House speaker, can explain why. "We all know," he said recently, "there are some votes you don't take because you're going to see it in your next election."

Bense is now chairman of a group that does not have to worry about the next election, and it may represent the best chance the average taxpayer has to be heard. The Taxation and Budget Reform Commission is empaneled every 20 years to take a serious look at tax policy, and its members are all appointed. More importantly, it is conferred the extraordinary power to bypass lawmakers and place constitutional amendments directly on the ballot.

The commission already has heard from many of the same lobbyists and interest groups that are successful in influencing the Legislature. But today, in downtown Tampa, it wants to hear from everyone else. The meeting is the second of seven public hearings across the state, and it will be held from 4 to 7 p.m. in the County Center, 601 E Kennedy Blvd.

Florida remains, by broad statistical measure, a low-tax state. But the reason middle-class families may think otherwise is that politicians have filled the code with exemptions and loopholes that make the lobbyists smile. Today is an excellent opportunity for the rest of us to be heard.

[Last modified October 2, 2007, 22:18:55]