Your Taxpayers’ Association has received numerous requests for our position on the various proposals being considered at the State level for reducing property taxes and supplementing them with increased sale taxes. We continue to review the rapidly changing suggestions being floated for public comment and will take a firm position as soon as legislators begin to coalesce on a proposed solution.

We see the recent proposals by the State Legislature as a long over due reaction to local government spending. In general we are against a large increase in sales taxes, which transfer the tax burden more toward those least able to pay. They also have a negative affect on business and rental/low income housing, main groups who’s suffering under the current system they are trying to address. We are for redressing the large and growing disparity between the taxes paid on homesteaded and non-homesteaded/business property. It has created at least two classes of homeowners and really put a heavy burden on Florida’s business owners and industries. We believe in imposing reasonable user fees and realistic impact fees on new construction. However, we have not seen the focus placed where if really needs to be: on the spending of our local politicians.

Our solutions: First, CUT THE SPENDING! We have been trying to make the case for years that our county government was being built on tax increases that could not be sustained. From 2001 to 2006 our population increased by just over 10,000, about 2% per year. During the same period inflation was 1 to 3% per year, among the lowest in our history. Spending by the County Commissioners, however, more than doubled from $201.5 million to $411.8 million, averaging nearly 15% per year increase. Fixing this now will not be easy, but has to be done. Since well over 80% of the County’s budget is personnel costs, a major reduction in staff expense has to be addressed. A freeze on hiring, bottom up justification for all positions, professional negotiators for all professional employees and union contracts, reduce the use of outside consultants and other part time employees, instituting the practice of transferring experts across organizational lines or “internal consulting” should all be considered. Emphasis on reducing staff cost will help change the mind set and should be accompanied by a program that rewards individual staff members for efficiency/money saving suggestions.

The second part of the solution is more difficult; MAKE OUR POLITICIANS RESPONSIVE TO ALL TAX PAYERS. Much of our difficulty arose because the large property tax increases occurred naturally, without politicians having to raise tax rates. They were able to just sit back and enjoy the largess brought on by large increases in the tax base. However, the other major factor is that those under-represented or unable to vote in local elections suffered the most increase, while homesteaded voters were largely unaffected. Also, the County Administration, School Board, Sheriff and other Constitutional Officers are, by far, the largest employers in our county and have an inherent bias against reducing government spending. Finally, the County’s budget is debated and approved in the summer, when many of those most affected are not present. It is time to change the budget process to allow more taxpayer participation.

In essence, the solution depends on one thing, the mindset of the County’s leaders. As long as it is acceptable to procure the support of public sector employees with unwarranted contract provisions, build multi-million dollar schools, pay square foot costs on new construction at nearly double the commercial rate, or continually consult every decision to death, things will not change. Getting every elected official to worry about every taxpayer dollar is real the way to fix this problem.

We close with a word of caution to our Legislature. Stop burdening local governments with unfunded mandates! As citizens and taxpayers, we have to stop voting for measures that sound good but cost plenty and accomplish little; things like billion dollar bullet trains.