Amidst international market uncertainty, the state General Revenue Estimating Conference decreased its original estimate of General Revenue collections that would be available for the state budget. The Legislature will have $395.6 million less than previously estimated in October, with $31.257 billion available for the fiscal year 2016-17 state budget.
Coming off a strong 2015, Florida’s economy will continue to grow in 2016. According to the latest edition of Florida TaxWatch’s Economic Commentary, Florida’s Real Gross State Product is expected to grow 3.1 percent in 2016, higher than the national rate. Additionally, job growth is expected to continue to improve, with most experts predicting between 2.2 – 2.9 percent job growth in 2016.
As we kick off 2016, Floridians can look forward to consistent growth in the Florida economy. As shown in the December 2015 Economic Commentary, Florida experienced strong job growth in 2015, adding nearly a quarter of a million jobs. Heading into 2016, Florida’s job market is widely expected to maintain its course as the Florida economy as a whole continues to strengthen. One of the most commonly used metrics to measure a state’s economy is the Real Gross State Product (RGSP), which measures the value of economic output for a given state, adjusted for price changes stemming from inflation or deflation. Florida’s RGSP is expected to grow 3.1 percent in 2016, which is roughly a half a percentage point higher than the United States.
On January 13, Florida TaxWatch, an independent nonpartisan research institute, held its State of the Taxpayer Dinner highlighting the issues affecting Florida taxpayers during the 2016 Legislative Session. The sold-out event attracted more than 140 taxpayers, business and community leaders, and lawmakers.
At its January 8th meeting, the Government Efficiency Task Force (GETF) approved its interim recommendation report in advance of the 2016 Legislative Session. The interim report includes recommendations that would generate substantial taxpayer savings and improve government efficiency.
With the looming sunset of the sales tax exemption on manufacturing equipment threatening to harm Florida’s economy, Florida TaxWatch testified before the Legislature to extend the tax exemption. The exemption on manufacturing equipment allows manufacturers to reinvest the money they would have given to the state back into their business. This promotes growth in the manufacturing industry and creates high salary jobs.
With an addition of 240,000 jobs in 2015, Florida continues to rise from the Great Recession, according to the December edition of Economic Commentary by Florida TaxWatch. Over the past year, all of Florida’s major industries have seen strong employment gains, with government being the only industry with a reduction in jobs. The unemployment rate has fallen to five percent, matching the national rate and reaching its lowest point since January 2008.
For the past five years, Florida TaxWatch has published an annual review that has analyzed the most recent year’s employment figures. As December comes to a close and the New Year is upon us, TaxWatch looks to assess how our job market fared in 2015.
While Florida is known as a tax-friendly state, taxes don’t tell the whole story about how much the government costs its citizens. A better measure to calculate the overall cost of government is to use “own source revenue,” which includes not just taxes, but all other sources of revenue like fees, charges for services, special assessments, impact fees and net lottery revenue.
Florida’s has historically held the reputation of being a low-tax state, and that is largely true, especially at the state level. But taxes do not tell the whole story of what government costs its citizens. Taxes, especially those reported to the U.S. Census Bureau, exclude a large amount of revenue paid into government co ers by citizens. And that non-tax revenue accounts for a much higher portion of government total revenue in Florida than in the average state. A better measure of the cost of government is “own source revenue,” which Florida TaxWatch has been tracking in its How Florida Compares series. Own source revenue includes all direct revenue except for intergovernmental aid, revenue from government-owned utilities and other enterprises, and social insurance funds. It includes non-tax revenue such as fees, charges for services, special assessments, impact fees and net lottery revenue.
College students will have the opportunity to learn with the state’s premier non-profit government watchdog under a new program that honors Senator Ken Plante, a longtime advocate for education and a co-founder of Florida TaxWatch. The program will be named “The Senator Ken Plante Memorial Internship.”
While virtually every Floridian has some interaction with state government,‚Ä? ‚Ĩit is easy for the average citizen to feel distanced from the political process of Tallahassee.‚Ä? ‚ĨAnd it can be easy for our elected leaders to feel distanced from their constituents if they do not regularly hear from the voters. But every Floridian has a unique opportunity to share suggestions on how to make their state government more efficient and effective.
Governor Rick Scott’s budget recommendations for FY2016-17 total $79.252 billion—an increase of 1.1 percent ($855.1 million) over current year spending. General Revenue (GR) spending of $29.260 billion would be an increase of 1.4 percent over the current year. The budget proposes to fund 112,823 state employee positions, 864 fewer than currently exist.
Florida students deserve the chance to succeed in their education, their careers and their lives. Measuring how well our schools are doing is critical to their success. For years, Florida has had clear and transparent school grades. These grades have been used not only to grade our schools, but to provide support for how to improve them.
Thanksgiving for most people often invokes images of family gatherings, turkey, and football. But for retailers, it invokes images of large crowds of shoppers and dollar signs. Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday are cash cows for businesses, particularly the retail and food industries. Those days are also important for Florida, as the state will collect a six percent sales and use tax on most of the goods purchased by shoppers, except for most grocery items.
A recent study by George Mason University’s Mercatus Center reviewed the fiscal health of the United States, breaking down each state individually for comparison across several standardized metrics. In this month’s Economic Commentary, Florida TaxWatch analyzed the study and provided analysis focused on our state.
This Ideas in Action, by the Harris Group, details the importance of STEM jobs in Florida.
Thanksgiving for most people invokes images of family gatherings, turkey, and football. But for retailers, it invokes images of large crowds and dollar signs. Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday are cash cows for businesses, particularly the retail and food industries. Those days are also important for Florida, as the state will collect a six percent sales and use tax on most of the retail goods purchased by shoppers and some grocery items, but will fail to collect lawfully owed taxes on many items purchased online during Cyber Monday.
A recent study by George Mason University’s Mercatus Center reviewed the fiscal health of the United States, breaking down each state individually for comparison across several standardized metrics. This Economic Commentary takes a look into some of these measurements, as well as examining other areas that affect Florida’s fiscal standing.
“The Governor’s budget includes smart, targeted tax cuts to stimulate business growth while investing in critical areas like child protection and education to ensure all Floridians have the opportunity to pursue success in school and in life,” said Dominic M. Calabro, President and CEO of Florida TaxWatch.
For over 45 years, donor support has made Florida TaxWatch the state’s leading independent voice for taxpayer accountability. There are many ways to support our mission.
