A better Florida? Yes. Pay for it? Hell no!
March 20, 2008 at 1:31 pm by Wayne GarciaJust another example of Floridians’ hypocrisy when it comes to even the most simple upkeep of our roads, bridges, parks, etc. This time, the case is over in the Pinellas beaches, on the toll-road called the Pinellas Bayway.
Two legislators dropped plans for a higher toll to pay for needed replacement spans on the Bayway after public outrage. Their legislation would have raised tolls from 35-50 cents a trip to as much as $2.50. The Times reports:
“This year? It’s deader than a doornail — I mean it is flat, Black Flag dead,” said state Sen. Dennis Jones, R-Seminole, who sponsored bills with Rep. Jim Frishe, R-Belleair Bluffs.
The result is that the cost for the new bridges will now inevitably be spread out onto all taxpayers instead of directed to those folks who live and play on the beaches, the very people who use the damned Bayway in the first place. That sounds fair, at least to groups such as the Citizens Bayway Task Force.
This is just the latest in a decades-long string of Florida stinginess for the basics of civic life and taking care of our infrastructure. The latest tax reform proposal, for instance, would do away with $9-11 billion of education funding that had been tied to property taxes and that would not be replaced with a swap-out 1 percent increase in sales taxes (which are much less stable a funding source and a regressive tax, to boot).
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March 20th, 2008 at 2:08 pm
Wayne,
Your opinion is conflicting. You seem to advocate for an end-user fee (tolled road paid for by those who choose to use it), then slam the sales tax swap. One might argue a sales tax is the ultimate end-user fee. If you don’t want to pay it, don’t buy goods that it taxes.
Property owners pay a tax that is spread out far beyond the serivces they use and services non-property owners enjoy.
March 20th, 2008 at 2:38 pm
I am not slamming the sales tax swap when i point out that it is regressive and will result in a net minus to education of between $9 billion and $11 billion. I am not a fan of property taxes per se; i would much rather see us, as I have written before, expand the sales tax to cover all sales and services, lower property taxes and collect the uncollected hundreds of millions we lose in b2b internet sales each year. But I think we have to be honest and label the sales tax as what it is; regressive. and I don’t favor the tax reform commission proposal because it uses a higher sales tax, I have no problem with that part. I don’t favor it because it is not a swap and leaves our already underfunded education system in the hole and at the whim of legislators who approve the budget annually to find enough to plug that hole.
i could also argue there is a big difference between an end-user fee that pays for the item upon which the tax is collected and a general sales tax that pays for the operations of government across a broad spectrum. If I buy a television set, my state sales tax is not going to provide infrastructure for broadcasting to that set or cable systems to deliver quality programming. It is going for teachers and kids (if the “swap” happens, for instance). So while it is closer to a user fee than the property tax is, it is not analogous to the toll road.
My major issue with the Bayway thing is that legislators and commissioners should be looking at putting fewer cars on the Bayway, not more and charging them an arm and a leg. Residents only on our barrier beaches, with regular transit running from the mainland out to the beaches so that we can park, ride a bus out there, get shitfaced at the Swigwam, wander up and down the beach on transit, and then return to our vehicles, sobered and ready to drive home. there already aren’t enough parking spaces on our beaches. and the money we save on bridge wear and tear and building public access parking lots would pay a large share of the cost of transit.
March 20th, 2008 at 6:15 pm
I agree with your last comment, Wayne.
When I first mentioned the Bayway Toll (http://blogs.creativeloafing.com/blurbex/2008/03/10/they-get-you-coming-and-going/), I said that I didn’t mind the first Bayway toll to St. Pete Beach as much, because I can take a trolley instead.
But there is no transit options for Ft. De Soto and as a resident who goes there quite often, it’s completely ridiculous to charge me $3.75 to spend a few hours. I truly think if they decided to raise it just a few quarters more, then there wouldn’t have been the outcry.
March 21st, 2008 at 8:21 am
good point, alex. the other reason for the high cost out to fort desoto is there are so few residents there to foot the bill vs. st pete beach. and since the main destination is a state park, a 100% end-user fee might not be the best way to go, since a state park is a treasure for all of us and future generations, whether we ever go or not.
March 21st, 2008 at 4:24 pm
I tried to find a sponsor for a bill to adjust one of the state’s license exam fees so that the state would at least break even on an application. Did I find one? Nope. I was told that any thing that caused an increase in cost to the general public wasn’t going to happen. So I’m not surprized that this fee increase didn’t get traction!
March 21st, 2008 at 4:46 pm
There are so few places in Florida where you can enjoy some kind of recreative activity without paying tourist-level entry fees, already. I think raising the tolls at so high so quickly was a bone-headed move.
when I lived in New Jersey, you could see world-class aquariums, art museums and zoos for low or no fees, thanks to tax dollars supplied by all.
Is it really that outlandish to expect Floridians to at least fork up some tax dough so everybody can enjoy one of the world’s greatest beaches for low or no dough?
March 21st, 2008 at 5:01 pm
I don’t think we should limit those who can afford to go to beaches and parks etc. We just should get them there on mass transit that is paid for by everyone rather than more expensive bridges and roads that pour more cars onto the beaches than they can accommodate
March 21st, 2008 at 6:47 pm
Florida: “The Cheapass State”– not sure how one state can attracted so many uneducated low-lifes, lazy asses, cheap-skates, tax dodgers, Libertarian extremists, fundamentalist religious fanatics, self-preservationists, and myopic so-called “leaders”.
Perhaps the State is cursed?
March 21st, 2008 at 10:18 pm
the state isn’t cursed; it’s just that our marketing efforts for the past century hit their mark. that is exactly the market FLA was looking for when it had acres and acres of swamp land to unload …
March 23rd, 2008 at 7:47 pm
BillPeak, you are so right on. But, that’s kind of why I love writing in this place… there’s always material
March 24th, 2008 at 8:14 am
Ah yes, Florida, only state to have earned it’s very own Fark.com tag.