Florida voters will see a new property tax

Florida voters will see a new property tax exemption on the ballot this year.

Currently, the Property Appraiser on her website lists 16 property tax exemptions that can be applied for if the criteria are met. This newest one as listed in the passed bill is for “a classroom teacher, a law enforcement officer, a correctional officer, a firefighter, an emergency medical technician, a paramedic, a child welfare service provider, an active-duty member of the United States Armed Services or a member of the Florida National Guard.” All these jobs are necessary and appreciated. Yet why should occupation determine whether you pay tax or not.

When one class is exempted from paying their fair share of tax, then any revenue loss must be borne by the rest of the taxpayers. Some would argue that a member of those professions is not paid enough. If that is true, then shouldn’t that issue be addressed through bargaining by the parties as all other issues are? How is it fair to the waiter struggling to pay his real estate taxes or the store clerk trying to keep her home?

MCTA is adamantly opposed to Florida having an income tax with all the carve outs for special interest groups that the federal and other state’s income taxes have become. We are also opposed to turning our property tax code into one riddled with bad policy exceptions. Real estate taxes are supposed to derive their tax amounts by applying a tax rate to the value of the property. Florida has strayed farther and farther from this concept.

This exemption seems to us to be nothing more that the legislature currying favor with selective voting blocks. It further does so not by reducing what Tallahassee collects but by reducing what local government collects. Property taxes are what counties and municipalities count on to provide local services.

The only proceeds from property taxes that partially go to Tallahassee are those collected for the schools. School district taxes are exempted in general from exemptions, and this one no exception. It is another example of an unfunded mandate on local government.

Wouldn’t it be ironic if local governments would have to furlough the very people the latest give away from Tallahassee purports to help because of a lack of tax money? This will cause a further diminution of local tax money to pay for needed services. Because it is bad policy, we cannot support this referendum.