A better path to tax reform

Let voter-approved commission do its work

Floridians recognized the need to reform tax policies and spending practices long before the Legislature convened last month.

Yet that recognition -- first expressed by voters in 1988 and affirmed by them in 1998 -- seems to have been lost on leaders of the House of Representatives and, to a lesser extent, Gov. Charlie Crist.

The House and Crist want voters to consider politically charged measures this fall, even though the most radical proposals are unlikely to receive the thoughtful analysis they deserve.

Furthermore, there is a responsible alternative to maintaining the status quo: Let the voter-approved Taxation and Budget Reform Commission do its work.

Politicians are often criticized for shifting difficult decisions on important issues to blue-ribbon committees. But the Taxation and Budget Reform Commission isn't just any group. The commission has a mandate from voters, and the ability to comprehensively review the way Florida and its subsidiary local governments tax and spend.

Sharp rises in property values (which, we note, were welcomed by many owners who sought to sell their homes or businesses) and voter-endorsed inequities -- such as that imposed by the Save Our Homes amendment -- have created political motivation in the Legislature to do something about property taxes. While owner-occupied main residences are shielded from significant tax increases, "second homes" and commercial properties are not.

The House has proposed several radical fixes, some of which would eliminate property taxes or impose caps on the revenues they generate. But they would also necessitate significant increases in the statewide sales tax. The House leadership and the governor have portrayed this as a simple proposition, but it's not. It doesn't adequately take into account the impacts on local governments, which are constantly handed more responsibilities by the state. It doesn't apply the same cutbacks to property taxes levied by school boards, on behalf of the state, and it doesn't factor in the need for reform of the sales-tax structure before increasing the rate.

In 1988, voters amended the state constitution to create the Taxation and Budget Reform Commission. Propitiously, the commission began meeting last month -- in keeping with a timetable set in another voter-approved constitutional amendment in 1998 -- and conducted an organizational meeting Monday.

The commission appropriately reiterated its commitment to a broad analysis of taxation and spending.

John McKay, a former state senator, is on the commission. The Republican from Bradenton recently told us that property tax increases on second homes and commercial real estate are harming Florida's economy. But, McKay said, it would be a "grievous error" for the state to take sweeping action on one or two forms of taxes without first examining comprehensive reform.

He's right.

Unfortunately, the Legislature is unlikely to tackle broad-based reform. Florida, and its people and businesses, will be better served if the Legislature defers drastic steps on taxes until the reform commission does its work and takes its proposals directly to the voters.