March 28, 2024

Tax / Budget Reform

Tax Examiners

The Tax and Budget Reform Commission has 16 months to come up with a better way of doing things.

Neil Skene | 12/1/2006

If only there were a magic elixir to create cheaper government and lower taxes at the same time that we have better roads and schools, economic development and uncluttered beaches, healthcare for everybody and a thriving natural environment. Alas, that elixir remains as elusive as our fountain of youth, but we keep talking about it anyway. The state constitution says we have to, at least every 20 years. So in 2007 there will be a Tax and Budget Reform Commission.

The group will have until May 2008 to put any proposed constitutional amendments on the November 2008 ballot, which the commission can do directly, without legislative interference. The only other group with that privilege is the every- 20-years Constitution Revision Commission, which meets again in 2017-18.

The commission's scope is so broad that members can make of it what they want -- and so can the governor and legislative leaders, who appoint all the members. (Some Republicans wishfully speculated that Gov. Jeb Bush would make some of the appointments as one of his last acts. Bush's folks say they haven't thought about it.)

The fundamental question is what we want to achieve with Florida's government. Take education, for example. Bush argues correctly that more money doesn't necessarily produce better education, but "accountability" alone won't either. Republican leaders complain about the cost of meeting class-size standards but haven't said much about the cost of meeting federal and state accountability standards. And we are all but ignoring areas not tested by the FCAT, such as geography, civics and the arts. How good do we want education to be?

Until we know what our societal and governmental goals are, it's harder to address either budget or tax levels. Neither the Legislature nor the governor has done that. Can a commission? It could raise our ambitions or lower our expectations about government services. It would be a shame if it just opts for the same old mediocrity.

The commission could also get government better focused on investment and return. We tend to look at government services as a cost, not as costs and benefits -- except possibly benefits (cost savings) to government itself. Consider this from economist David Denslow of the University of Florida's Bureau of Economic and Business Research in a book called "Tough Choices," which he co-authored for the LeRoy Collins Institute at Florida State University last year: "Underfunded, mediocre pre-school programs actually have negative behavioral effects on students that endure, and create costs and burdens, long after the positive education benefits fade."

Eight years of rhetorical attacks on taxes will surely affect the commission's decisions. The traditional meaning of "tax reform" in Florida is broadening the tax base beyond the sales tax on goods, the biggest source of state money, and the property tax on real estate, the main funding for local governments and schools. That generally means "tax increase," especially since Florida now takes less from its citizens than most other states.

Tags: Politics & Law, Around Florida, Government/Politics & Law

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