State panel rejects tax-cap proposal
Mary Ellen Klas
Miami Herald
Apr 15, 2008
TALLAHASSEE -- A powerful citizens panel couldn't muster the votes Monday for a constitutional amendment to cap all government revenue, but quickly gave the go-ahead for an amendment to make it easier to collect sales taxes on Internet and catalog sales.
The Taxation and Budget Reform Commission rejected the tax cap after supporters spent much of the day-long meeting trying to get support for last-minute amendments to win the 17 votes needed from the 25-member panel.
When it became obvious the tax cap was four votes short, supporters scrambled to push a replacement amendment that would make it harder for state and local governments to pass taxes and fees by requiring a two-thirds vote of the governing board. That failed too.
''We sure gave it a heck of a try,'' said Commission Chairman Allan Bense, who supported the tax cap.
The tax-cap proposal would have tied all state, city and county revenue increases to a formula based on increases in inflation and population. It was modeled after a similar plan in Colorado called the Taxpayer Bill of Rights, and while watered down significantly from that plan, it would have kept a provision to require voter approval for all tax increases.
Proponents said the measure was needed to stop runaway government spending but opponents warned that the rigid formula would hamstring community development and hurt the economy.
The only chance voters have of seeing a revenue cap now lies with the state Legislature. A House committee is scheduled to hear a proposal Tuesday that would put a similar amendment on the November ballot.
''We can pass a tax cap in the House,'' said Rep. David Rivera, the chairman of the House Rules Committee who was sworn in Monday as a nonvoting member of the tax commission. But he and others are not as optimistic about its prospects in the Senate.
Meanwhile, with only one meeting left for commissioners to push their pet proposals, an air of desperation reigned at Monday's meeting. Commission member Randy Miller agreed to reconsider his 'no' vote on a controversial plan to allow state-paid vouchers to go to public schools. The measure failed by one vote at the April 4 meeting.
Then Miller, an executive with the Florida Retail Federation, quickly won support for his pet project and a top priority of his employer: a constitutional amendment requiring Florida to join 32 other states to voluntarily collect taxes from companies that sell goods over the Internet and other direct sales.
By allowing Internet consumers to avoid sales taxes, those companies are unfairly competing against Florida's retailers, Miller said. The measure appeared short of the votes at an earlier meeting, but passed Monday on a 17-6 vote.
If vouchers supporters can get Bense to reschedule their amendment at the final commission meeting, Miller's ''vote could make the difference,'' said member Patricia Levesque, who heads the voucher advocacy organization Floridians for Florida's Future.
The biggest issue looming over the commission, however, is its tax-swap amendment, which is already headed for the ballot but needs a final vote on its wording. That plan would force the Legislature to eliminate state-required school property taxes and replace them with increases in sales taxes and other revenue and the elimination of some sales-tax exemptions.
That proposal prompted commission member Roberto Martinez to vote against the measure to require a two-thirds vote for state and local governments to raise taxes and fees.
He said it would be ''next to impossible'' to get the Legislature to raise taxes or eliminate exemptions with the bar that high. The tax-swap ''is one of the hallmarks of this commission,'' Martinez said, `` and I wouldn't like to see this Legislature do anything to harm it.''
Mike Hogan, the Duval County tax collector who sponsored the failed tax-cap plan, said its failure has prompted him to reconsider his vote on the tax swap. Hogan said he had understood that the tax-swap plan would force the Legislature to raise the sales tax by more than a penny.
But other commission members said the amendment limits a sales-tax increase to a penny.
Hogan said that would be a ''bait and switch'' that will force the Legislature to raises taxes on services that are not now taxed. ''It's a backdoor services tax,'' he said.
Hogan said he voted for the proposed amendment but he will not vote to put it on the ballot when the panel decides to approve the final language on April 24.
The commission has until May 4 to get amendments to the secretary of state's office for the November ballot and will meet again April 24 and 25 to approve the final wording of the proposed amendments.
The panel has already voted to put six tax-related proposals on the November ballot and on Monday increased the list to seven.