Nice trick: Raise taxes to cut them

Those who are chortling over the $900-million in mystery money that fuels Gov. Charlie Crist's public schools budget request for next year are missing an even more entertaining feature. He also has served up a plan that would increase property taxes in order to reduce them.

Honestly.

Crist doesn't deny that he released his proposal Thursday in his attempt to persuade voters that they can cut their property taxes without harming schools by approving Amendment 1 on Jan. 29. In fact, he actually inserted a budget line item straight from the campaign trail. Under the heading of "categorical programs," a new one appears: Hold Education Harmless.

The attached amount, $138-million, was not pulled out of the air. It reflects the projected first-year loss to schools from the property tax exemptions that would be increased under Amendment 1. But here's the kicker: He would pay for it by increasing what is known as the "required local effort" by $338-million. "Local effort" means local property taxes.

In other words, Crist would increase property taxes to reduce them.

The back-door property tax is getting to be a regular stand-up routine in the Capitol. Even as lawmakers ordered cities and counties last year to lower property taxes, they managed to increase the "local effort" by 7.4 percent, or $547-million. The year before that, the increase was $1.1-billion.

Gov. Crist may want to believe that he is protecting public education as he tours Florida asking voters to undermine it. But his proposed 2008-09 budget, which veteran Florida School Boards Association executive director Wayne Blanton called "the biggest blue smoke and mirrors I have ever seen in my career," doesn't add up. He can't raise school spending by $1-billion next year by relying on $900-million that doesn't appear to exist.

Maybe Crist's full budget plan - expected to be released after voters decide Amendment 1 - will shed more light on how he can come up with an extra $1-billion for schools in a year with a projected $1.4-billion shortfall. But voters right now can only see the educational smoke and mirrors, and there is nothing harmless about that.

[Last modified January 18, 2008, 22:31:50]