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Hernando Today

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 9, 2008

Pay-As-You-Go System

Of Taxation The Fairest

Save Our Homes is an unfair system and is probably unconstitutional. Whereas the milder unfairness of yesteryears didn't have the momentum or visibility to bring this fact to light, there is now ample evidence of this.

The basic premise that if you live full time in Florida in a house you own gives you some sort of membership into a club that is taxed less is absurd. From a government costs point of view, the truth is nearly the opposite. Consider the snowbird in Florida three months of the year. His need for government services (road repair, police, fire, etc.) are roughly one quarter of his full time neighbor's needs. Hence his property tax should be one quarter. But in the current SOH system, his tax burden is likely four times his long-term neighbors - just the opposite.

This argument about basic fairness and the mismatch between a group of payers of taxes and receivers of government services is age-old. Most classically it extends to homeowners of school-aged children. School taxes are about half the property tax. When someone is unnecessarily paying hundreds of dollars per year for such (because they have no school age children and don't use that service), there is some pain. But when the number is thousands of dollars per year, it is time for a change.

The SOH unfairness extends to other less obvious and scrutinized cases. For instance, I would bet - although I have no data - that those with criminal records statistically will need future police and courts services far more than those without. On the other hand, those who work at home use the public roads far less. Same for those without boats, RV's, etc.

With property taxation as the primary income of government, there is also the frequently false notion that if a home is worth more, then the occupant is more affluent. And, furthermore, that mere affluence is a reason to tax that person more. Both concepts are inherently unfair and untrue too often. Per SOH, the taxable value of a home is not real, so current "normal" values merely appear high.

The very idea of property tax is antiquated. I imagine that at one time tying property ownership to taxation made sense. Before a time when records were computerized and everyone had a Social Security number, jurisdictions only had the immovable property as leverage for payment. Philosophically, having only owners pay also struck a chord in that they are the ones with the inherent interest in jurisdictional improvements. Nowadays, anyone can be tracked down, and records of debt will never be forgotten by our computers. Most of the roads, courthouses, schools and parks are already built and jurisdictions are pretty much involved in maintenance costs nowadays - expenses that repeat every year for the consumables of the county.

Personally, I favor the use of sales tax as the primary means for government income. The exclusion of food, medical and some clothing eliminates much, it not all, of the regressive nature of a sales tax. Furthermore, even the poorest among us must appreciate the idea that they have the power to decide how much tax to pay. Spend less and pay less. Buy a new luxury car or boat and pay more. Sales tax also makes sense in the case of snowbirds or tourists. Generally, it is a sound premise that for the time period that a tourist or snowbird visit Florida, they need government services, but while they're gone they do not. With the sales tax approach, this part-time group would pay its prorated share. Of course, there is little cost to implementing a sales tax - the most notable being that it takes no more government employees/bureaucracy to implement. Simply have the store/point-of-sale increase the percent they already send to Tallahassee. In fact, if increasing the sales tax allows for ending property taxes entirely, there could be a great savings to government (and to us) by elimination of county appraisal and tax collector offices.

Second to the sales tax, I favor increasing the cost of services and making certain departments of the government self-sustaining and independent. Again this thought is generated from fairness and simplicity point of view. I believe in putting the cost of government as close as practical to the location of the cost. I use as a reference for this approach how Florida building departments are funded. They are funded purely from the building fees they collect - not from the general fund of the county. For example, I would sooner favor increasing the registration costs for a vehicle by 10-fold, than using an income tax or property tax to convolutedly steering the value of property or one's income into road repairs. Same with the criminal justice system. Have those who cause the crime pay, be more responsible for their own policing. They get/use more services and should rightfully pay proportional for their usage/consumption. Same with boat owners/registrants, toll roads (already widely in use, but could be increased), dumps, etc. And yes, schools too. Despite the fact that most children are born to younger, less financially secure adults, the real burden of educating children should be felt by the folks that bore them. A pay-as-you-go for services approach is eminently fair. And by isolating departments to pay for themselves the path of the money is clear, obvious and open for inspection.

The one great thing that escalation of property taxes (as a result of home prices) has caused is visibility to the whole of our taxing system in Florida. The discourse that has ensued, and will likely continue until resolved democratically, is healthy for our society, and will most likely result in a fairer system, as I believe ultimately people vote their conscience and not their pocketbooks. That is to say, I believe most will hold fairness as higher value than personal wealth and will voice that in their votes on Jan. 29 to defeat Crist's purely politically inspired proposal.

Jim Mastro

Brooksville

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