Taxes or Services

So, you want to cut property taxes? What a fantastic idea! Wait, what exactly do property taxes pay for? Roughly half of property taxes pay for education, and the rest covers roads, police, fire, libraries, waste management, parks and trails. So, by cutting property taxes, we would be cutting these services, right?

This November the elimination of property taxes will be on the ballot. If 60% of us vote yes, property taxes will be gone. There is one caveat. Roughly half of our current property taxes fund education and this amendment does not include educational cuts. So, we will pay roughly half of our current property taxes. Less taxes means more money for us to keep.

My mother always said you pay for what you get and if you don’t pay, you don’t get.

But wait, how will we pay for the services cut in this amendment, like police, fire, roads, libraries, parks and trails? Without this revenue, we will not have these services, right? The more accurate question is do we want these services? Fire and police are quite essential and in order for these services to get to us, we need roads. OK, so police, fire and roads are needed for our society to minimally manage.

Let’s get this straight. On November 3rd, if we vote no on this amendment, nothing changes, and our taxes stay the same. If we vote yes, we either need to find a way to pay for these essential services or not have them at all, right?

Venturing to guess these are needed and wanted services, we must find revenue elsewhere. The simplest and most logical answer is assessments, which are taxes for a specific use and detailed purpose. A fire assessment is found in the City of Groveland to pay for all things fire. Police assessments, library assessments, road assessments, garbage pick-up assessments, parks and trails assessments can be added to increase revenue and fund these services. That works.

Thinking outside the box, revenue can come from outsiders as well. Tourists love Florida. In fact, they come here in droves. They drive on our roads. They utilize our fire and police for security and safety purposes. They even pay a ‘heads in beds’ tourism tax. However, this tax is used only to promote Florida. Yet, what if this tax was expanded to fund roads, police and fire? The tax burden would not be placed wholly on Florida residents. Tourists would partner that tax as well.

Bring down taxes for residents can begin squarely at toll roads. Eliminate tolls for Florida residents can be a starting point. So, who pays for the roads then? Increase tolls slightly and put the funding on tourists. First question to come to mind is: “Will this drive tourists away from Florida?” With a one-day Disney Park pass at $119-$223 before taxes, and with tourism increasing almost every year, tourists want Florida and will pay for their vacations here. At least that is the current trend. Disney lobbyists may think differently though.

Other tax saving ideas include incentivizing new homeowners by lowering impact fees for smaller homes. Get local home builders involved by incentivizing them as well.

Our American mindset rests in the concept that taxes are bad. They are misused and fraud is rampant. In fact, we hire lawyers and accountants, so we don’t have to pay them. We fight the system to pay very little or none at all.

Taxes equal services. So, Florida, you decide and remember without tax revenue, we potentially have no services.

Farmer Banks Helfrich teaches gardening monthly at Florida Blue Clermont and on his seven-acre farm, The Giving Farm which includes 15 different gardens in north Clermont. The Giving Farm tours are every 2nd Sunday. Call Banks for more information. (407) 616-9720