Opinion: Property Tax Relief and the Florida Legislature Boom or Bust

I realize there are a lot of hurt feelings about the governor’s line-item vetoes over the last six years that killed local pork projects, but grow up. Let me add, though, when I say pork, I don’t mean it like you think. Many of those projects were worthy of funding, just not by the state taxpayer at large. This is why the nation is in the debt trap it is in. It “doesn’t cost a dime” if the federal government, or in our case, the state, pays for it. 

The good news is that there might be some help for Florida homeowners and local projects if we can get the “let’s end property tax crew” to sit down with the Tourist Development (TDC) crew and have a rational discussion. 

Look, nobody wants to see property taxes go away more than me. No one likes the idea of renting their home forever from the government, and HB 7033 moves us in that direction. It states the following:” As allocated pursuant to an ordinance adopted by the board of county commissioners that specifies a different method of applying credits to tax bills based on specific categories of properties.”

In plain English, the commissioners must use every dime of bed tax for property tax relief, and they get to pick who gets it. If my reading of it is correct. The problem is that it replaces one Tallahassee mandate with another. My guess is 99 out of 100 voters would be fine with taking every dime of Tourist Development Tax dollars to fund property tax relief. 

But that is what I would call a Fast-Food version of the facts. Given that the purpose of the tax from the beginning was for Tourist Development.  I also realize we are in the age of the internet, and mandating we spend forty percent of those dollars on advertising is about as good of an idea as New Coke was. 

So, what do we do? Well, how about the warring factions agree that no one gets everything they want? 

I would start with tax relief for those over sixty-five and move from there. Then I would recognize that our Visitor Bureau/TDCs are not the enemy. 

I would take fifty percent of the bed tax and mandate it go to tax relief and twenty-five percent to the Visitor Bureaus. Then allow the counties to use the additional twenty-five percent as they see fit. 

But wait, aren’t you a local control absolutist? Yes, but I also live in Realville, not on Fantasy Island, but if I were King for a day. I would say if you (businesses) think there is a positive return on advertising, then advertise, because all the tourist impact taxes are going to those impacted, the residents. 

And that is why I can’t be King for a day. 😊 

All that being said, from a political point of view, what the hell is going on? 

Being a lifelong participant and observer of the political process, this legislative session has been one for the books. 

First, the governor calls a special session only to have the legislature cancel it, call a new one, pass a bill they won’t even send to the governor, only to pass another bill that looks like what we started with in the first place. 

Then they go on the attack against the governor and Hope Florida among other things. Don’t pass a budget in time, and our very own representative sticks his finger in the eye of the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee and Speaker Pro Tempore over property tax relief.  Talk about insanity of the highest order, but let me break it down for those like me who love the game but often hate the players. 

Look, if you don’t learn from history, you repeat it. Or as Vladimir Putin likes to say, history is the warden that punishes those who do not listen. 

With regard to the governor and Hope Florida. Does Hope Florida and the way it all went down seem, well, let’s say, smarmy? Yes, but let us learn from history here. 

In modern times, there has been no smarmier politicians than Bill Clinton. He only got 43% of the vote when he ran the first time, so it was not like he was the people’s man. Unlike the governor, who got almost 60% of the vote. 

But what does that have to do with Florida? Well, let’s look at the tale of two Speakers, Gingrich, and Perez. Both came to town thinking they were the cats’ meow, and how did that turn out for them? 

Look, you don’t take a shot at the king unless you are sure you can take him out. This is politics 101, like Gingrich, Perez may be somebody in his district, but the rest of the state could give two flips about who he or any representative or senator thinks they are. 

Ok, so what does this all mean regarding Representative Griffiths. Well, if you want to get things done for Bay County, you don’t stick your thumb in the eye of the Speaker Pro Tempore who sponsored HB 7033 and vote against.

You try and work with them to get some sort of a compromise. More importantly, you represent your voters and not just those at the TDC trough. 

IMHO, you vote for a bill that is going to pass by a super majority anyway and then work in conference with the Senate to make it better. Even in the form the bill is in today, the county commissioners, of which you were one, can allocate other dollars collected by the county to keep Visit PCB funded. 

Bottom line, the county commissioners are not going to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs, and neither are the voters. If they see the tax offsets are going down from Tourist Development Tax dollars because of the lack of advertising, they will demand that the commissioners spend on advertising. 

www.RexLeeReid.com

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