Despite its name, Amendment 10, titled Tangible Personal Property Tax Exemption, refers to a tax that businesses pay. It applies to any equipment used to earn income, like furniture, fixtures, machinery, tools, shelving and signs.
Such property is taxed in Florida, with revenues going to cities and counties.
Under current law, the first $25,000 of tangible personal property is exempt, so many small and fledgling businesses pay no taxes on their computers, weed-eaters, carpet cleaning machines, etc. If passed, Amendment 10 would boost that exemption to $50,000, and it would allow cities and counties to grant additional tangible personal tax exemptions beyond the $50,000 limit.
The League of Women Voters of Florida opposes this amendment for three reasons:
First, our state Constitution is a sacred document, intended to define the form and function of government, and designed to be hard to change. The proper place for state tax provisions is regular statutory law, where changing conditions make modification easier. Further, our tax policy needs a level playing field. Its already riddled with loopholes and needs to close the ones already there, not add more.
Second, Amendment 10 takes decision-making about local taxation away from local governments, precluding the principles and benefits of home rule. By virtue of proximity, local governments are better equipped to understand the unique needs and challenges their communities face, and they are better suited to deal with taxes and exemptions for local businesses.
Third, local governments simply cant afford the costs of such exemptions. The state estimates that tangible personal property taxes levied during fiscal year 2011-12 represented an estimated 7.6 percent of total county property taxes and 6.1 percent of total city property taxes in Florida. Statewide, if Amendment 10 passes, the added exemption proposed would reduce local property tax collections by $61 million over the next three years. That deficit could be made up by increasing millage rates, which would shift the tax to individuals/businesses that do not qualify for the exemption.
At a time when local governments are cutting services drastically -- laying off workers, reducing library hours and forgoing long-overdue infrastructure repairs -- Floridians simply cannot afford more revenue reductions.
Amendment 10 is one of a number of proposed amendments on the ballot that represent clear overreach on the part of legislators. By seeking to undermine municipal decision-making, and inappropriately attempting to enshrine such measures in Florida's Constitution, state lawmakers are disrupting the democratic process and putting services that we all depend on at risk. At the end of the day, citizens elect local officials to make local decisions, and the state should play a limited role.
Jessica Lowe-Minor is the executive director of the League of Women Voters of Florida. The League urges voters to learn more about all of the constitutional amendments on the ballot by visiting www.TheFloridaVoter.org.
