Forecast: Lots of tax reform talk, no action

MORGAN

© St. Petersburg Times,
published November 17, 2001

They are using the "T" word in the state Capitol these days.

Now don't get your shorts in a wad -- or your hopes up. They aren't likely to actually pass a tax on purpose, but they will spend a lot of time talking about it.

Senate President John McKay is pitching "tax reform," and a constitutional amendment that would allow voters to have a say in reducing the 6 percent state sales tax to 4 percent -- without some of the better known exemptions we have put on the books over the past 50 years.

McKay might want to talk to former Gov. Bob Martinez, the last guy who tried to do something like this. J.M. "Mac" Stipanovich, the lobbyist who was Martinez's chief of staff, says he could give McKay a little advice.

If he were to try and do it over, Stipanovich says he would pick the "weak sisters" first. Impose a tax on the little guys who don't have highly paid, well placed lobbyists: the dry cleaners, hair dressers, lawn care companies -- all of the smaller services that are currently exempt from the tax.

Then he'd go after the "black hats," companies that pollute and pave and aren't very popular -- one at a time. Pick one of the bad guys each year and strip that industry of its exemptions. That way the other bad guys would merely stand by watching, glad that they weren't in the barrel.

By adding one of the "black hats" a year until the tax exemptions have been stripped away, Florida would ultimately have a "level playing field" for taxation. (But not before some of us die of old age.)

It would also force people who haul fill dirt to explain why they should get a tax exemption like the one extended to food and medicine. Or perhaps the people who feed ostriches could explain why that food should be exempt when dog and cat food is taxed.

Just figuring out what is and is not taxable is a cottage industry. Even the Florida Department of Revenue, the agency that collects the taxes, has trouble answering questions about what is and is not taxable.

Everyone agrees our tax code is a mess, but there is little will to fix it.

A lot of Republicans believe that Martinez lost his reelection bid in 1990 because he approved the services tax, a proposal that extended the sales tax to dry cleaning, pool chemicals, lawn care, legal fees, advertising and other items that had been exempt.

Others think he lost because he caved in and urged its repeal. The turnabout came after television stations and many of the state's newspapers attacked the tax, the Legislature and Martinez in a relentless campaign. (The St. Petersburg Times was one of the few that supported the tax reform.)

I'm more inclined to think Martinez lost because a guy named Lawton Chiles decided to return to the political arena.

In both situations -- the passage of the tax and the sudden reversal -- Stipanovich played a major role. He's likely to be playing again, in a different role, if all this talk of the tax results in real legislation. This time Stipanovich is likely to be one of the hired guns, protecting the interests of a private client.

Rep. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, found out how controversial tax talk is this week when he visited a meeting of the Florida Association of Counties.

County commissioners are none too happy about the budget cutting atmosphere in Tallahassee and are fearful that more expenses will land in their laps.

Fasano, an opponent of even whispering the T word unless you are talking about repealing a tax, said the House would look at McKay's proposal but probably not pass it.

Fasano called it "an open and healthy discussion" and insists he was only joking when he accused the Association of "setting him up" after inviting him to discuss health care.

Others say it was an angry show.

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111

Contact the Times | Privacy Policy
Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright