Senator Haridopolis Discusses Norquist Tax Swap Letter

On April 18, 2008, Grover Norquist, President of Americans for Tax Reform, sent the attached letter addressed to the Florida Taxation and Budget Reform Commission regarding its current consideration of a “tax swap” plan that would eliminate the required local effort portion of the ad valorem property tax.

The letter was the topic of a press conference held today by Senator Mike Haridopolis on the issue.

In his letter, Mr. Norquist states:

“Mandated spending for public education contained in the proposal only compounds the risk for taxpayers. In order to fund the 2-year required growth in school funding and given the intention of the commission to create revenue to replace the $8.9 billion property tax cut, the legislature would be required to raise taxes by approximately $11 billion. This proposal would apparently result in a $3.7 billion increase- $1.6 of which is accounted for in higher federal income taxes, while the remainder is accounted for in higher state taxes. If this plan is passed along to the legislature, any legislator who votes to place this measure on the ballot would be violating the Taxpayer Protection Pledge.”

 

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