Tax-cut letdown: Numbers may not add up

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Miami Herald

Posted on Wed, Jun. 13, 2007
Tax-cut letdown: Numbers may not add up
Florida lawmakers are discovering they may not be able to cut property taxes sharply while maintaining vital services.
BY MARC CAPUTO AND MARY ELLEN KLAS
[email protected]

TALLAHASSEE -- On the first day of the special session to lower property taxes, here's what lawmakers started cutting: expectations for a huge tax cut this year and a January vote for even bigger savings.

The Republican-led Legislature didn't appear to have the votes Tuesday to push deeper cuts more quickly because Democrats oppose $7.2 billion in school cuts over five years in the $31.6 billion plan.

But the schools dispute belies the real trouble: It's almost impossible to fix the complicated tax system, protect local services and fulfill simple promises made by Gov. Charlie Crist and House Speaker Marco Rubio, who have raised public expectations of deep tax cuts.

The two Republicans have barnstormed the state separately for months. Rubio held out for bigger cuts in the recent legislative session, promising people will get a tax bill ''they can afford.'' Crist repeatedly pledged a reform that will send ''a sonic boom'' that will kick start the state economy when taxes ``drop like a rock.''


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