TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Crist's Tax Plan Doesn't Hold Water

ADVERTISEMENT

By KENT KOPTIUCH

Special to The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 18, 2009

There are two fundamental truths that Tampa Tribune readers should be aware of as they consider Gov. Charlie Crist's proposal to create a first-ever, $100 million tax on bottled water companies: These companies did not cause the overdevelopment that has led to water shortages in some communities, and this tax will do nothing to prevent more of it from happening.

Instead, the governor's proposal will only drain jobs from our state and put more Floridians on the unemployment lines.

This policy, unfortunately, was conceived in a vacuum. Bureaucrats at the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) now admit that they did not discuss the proposed tax with anyone from the bottled water industry. In fact, it wasn't until after Crist released his proposed budget that they began gathering data on how much money the tax would raise. Further, they offer no scientific or economic data about how they arrived at the $60-per-thousand-gallon figure.

Apparently, all that matters is that water bottling companies are making a profit, which means we should be taxed.

Never mind that water bottling is a low-margin business. The dollar-a-bottle price consumers see in the convenience store is more than companies like Nestle Waters charge wholesalers. In testimony before the Legislature, DEP has stated they prefer the severance tax because it will add "only pennies" to the cost of a case of bottled water. For our company, however, those pennies will add up to between $10 million and $20 million annually.

More puzzling is the faulty logic behind this proposal. Unlike oil, gas or phosphate, water is a renewable resource. It must be managed carefully, but it will replenish itself if it isn't depleted by overuse; Nestle Waters employs 10 full-time groundwater scientists on staff around the country to ensure the resources we tap are managed in an environmentally sound fashion.

Historically, Florida's problems originate from allowing intensive development and mismanagement of the resource. Again, this tax offers no incentive for communities to conserve water.

While water bottling companies would pay under the governor's plan, other water users are held harmless. Our company puts all its water through advanced filtration processes. It is then disinfected using ultraviolet light, rather than chlorine or other chemicals.

We test the water for quality and taste more than 100 times daily to assure it meets product safety standards set by the Food and Drug Administration. Then it is sealed in a bottle, ensuring that the consumer has a high-quality product.

In our economy people vote with their wallets, and increasingly they are choosing bottled water as a healthy alternative to sodas, sports drinks and other sugar-filled beverages. Ironically, under the severance tax plan, none of these drinks would be subject to the tax, despite the fact they are all mostly water. In fact, even people who freeze the water and sell it as ice will not be taxed.

In total, our company uses less than a million gallons of Florida water per day. This is about the same as a couple of golf courses use to water their grass (and as much or more than half of that water is lost to evaporation). By comparison, the city of Hollywood loses about 12 million gallons of water each day through their own leaky pipes!

In return for that modest withdrawal, Nestle Waters provides more than 1,000 jobs for Floridians at an average salary of $44,000 per year, plus health, dental, 401K and profit-sharing benefits. We pay nearly $4 million in local taxes and support local vendors that also contribute to the economy.

Do we make a profit? Yes. And that's a good thing. At a time when so many people are out of work and so many companies are closing doors, Florida ought to be encouraging those that continue to provide jobs and economic benefits - not taxing them out of business.

Kent Koptiuch is a certified groundwater professional and the Natural Resource manager for Nestle Waters North America's Zephyrhills bottling facility.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT