Proud record of Florida TaxWatch
Published: November 30, 1999

For 20 years Florida TaxWatch has been keeping a nonpartisan eye on state government.

Over the years it has shot at the budget turkeys of both parties, fought for equitable taxes and steered a straight course through the changing personalities and fashions of Tallahassee.

Dominic Calabro has led the privately funded research group almost since its founding and has helped make sure its observations and reports were constructive rather than reactionary.

He has largely succeeded, which explains why Republican Gov. Jeb Bush calls TaxWatch a ``vital partner'' and Democratic Sen. Bob Graham, a former governor, says TaxWatch's contribution is ``unparalleled'' in state history. About three out of four of the group's recommendations have been adopted.

Lawmakers, Cabinet officers and governors have come and gone, but Calabro and his long memory have remained. His influence has grown partly because he has no election to win or special interest to boost, but also because he has not abused his unique power and access.

His tax philosophy is simple: A tax increase should be government's last resort, not its first reaction to a problem. Politicians, he knows, have a tendency to overpromise and underdeliver.

This year he criticized the Legislature for hatching too many costly, low-priority projects, which he called ``the biggest gobblers in state history.''

Once, when the Cabinet ordered an across-the-board cut in state spending because revenues fell below expectations, Calabro called the cut ``unfair and misleading to taxpayers.'' It made no economic sense, he said, to cut the state's most needed programs.

He once pointed out that many new legislators didn't have office furniture, which meant former legislators must have been taking the state property home with them.

When he found that many state employees were taking long leaves of absence from field offices to help with political campaigns, he asked, ``If such a substantial number of people can leave a field office, then I wonder, are those jobs critical to government?''

Such questions demand lawmakers to declare their real priorities, and that often irks the powerful politicians in Tallahassee. But they know Calabro, backed by a diverse board of business leaders, can be neither bluffed nor ignored.

A key goal of TaxWatch is ``a healthy, prosperous Florida that strategically competes and wins in national and international arenas.'' It is a tribute to Calabro's leadership that the state is undoubtedly more healthy and prosperous because TaxWatch has been on the job. It has been an honest watchdog in warning of abuses, a credible guide dog in finding thrifty solutions to problems and a tireless bird dog in making sure taxpayers get their money's worth.