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Shortchanging Tax Reform

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 13, 2008

Don't tax me; don't tax thee; tax that fella behind the tree."

This should be the motto for the Legislature and governor for an abominable piece of legislation on the ballot Jan. 29.

Some years ago there was a man in Fort Worth, Texas, Eddie Childs, who was an oilman and owner of the Texas Rangers. He had a radio commentary on a Fort Worth radio station. He would start his show by saying, "I'm Eddie Childs and I'm mad as hell."

When are the citizens going to get "mad as hell" and get some meaningful tax reform in our great state? When are we going to get some kind of parity? When is the fairness doctrine going to be instituted?

Our state outgrew the ad valorem tax dependency 25 years ago, yet we have not changed our dependency on the tax structure. The Save Our Homes amendment of the 1990s has fractured our community in many ways.

What is fair about two homeowners living side by side, both households with the same income, in identical houses, one paying $2,000 a year in taxes and one paying $6,000? This is not the American way.

In this example it is obvious who has more disposable income. Our disposable income is our economic engine.

We can do better! No governor since Bob Martinez has attempted to change or improve our system. He had the vision for our state but of course was voted out of office because he actually had ideas for reform. Unfortunately our current governor and Legislature do not have the spine for change - they wish to abrogate their responsibilities for which they were elected.

The Constitution Revision Commission that I was privileged to serve on in 1998 attempted to address these issues, but we did not get the support in Tallahassee to fulfill this important issue.

Martha Barnett of Tallahassee and John McKay, a former legislator from Bradenton, are on the correct track. These two members of the Florida Taxation and Budget Reform Commission are advocates of a service tax, and for sales taxes on almost everything except food and medicine.

Recently, Bonnie Lincoln of Fort Myers wrote a letter to the editor of the Fort Myers paper, The News-Press, that is apropos to this poor proposal. I quote a couple of her comments here to illustrate the need for reform and change:

"The older we get, the more we depend on the services of younger people; medical personnel, the transportation system, contributors to the Social Security fund, etc. These are by and large other people's children, and it is in our interest that they are well-trained productive people. Except for a fortunate few, our own education and that of our children was subsidized by other taxpayers, so it is only fair that we pass it on."

As she states, this is a "civilized contribution." Let's bring some civility to this debate.

Some would say tax businesses more. I respectfully say to you that 98 percent of all of the businesses in Florida are small- or medium-sized businesses. We are your neighbors. We can do this together, but we cannot permit wedges to be driven between us.

This legislation continues to foster poor behavior. I urge you to vote no on this amendment. You too may be the "fella behind the tree."

Frank Morsani owns businesses in the Tampa area.

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