Rick Scott Vetoes Shift of Visitor-Tax Dollars from KSC to FIT

A wide-ranging bill that included shifting tax dollars generated by visitors to Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station to Florida Institute of Technology was vetoed by Gov. Rick Scott on Friday.

Scott wrote that while he supported the majority of the bill, House Bill 7099, he disagreed with the Legislature's decision to send $5 million a year in sales tax revenue from the space center visitors to the Melbourne-based FIT.

While the stated purpose is to provide funding to operate a space exploration research institute at FIT, the language was never vetted through an appropriations committee, Scott wrote in the veto letter to Secretary of State Ken Detzner.

In addition to the FIT research program, HB 7099 would have enacted a number of tax administration changes, including clarifying that storage fees for vehicles towed by a law enforcement agency are not taxable, and that drivers license images can be used to establish positive ID for tax administration purposes.

The FIT research program was to be set up in conjunction withSpace Florida.

A staff fiscal analysis of the bill stated the FIT program would provide unspecified economic development and job creation opportunities.