Imagine that you are a producer, scouting locations for your new tv show. You need a sunny climate with easy access to beaches. Your network has green-lit a full first season, and you need somewhere to set up shop. You don’t have an unlimited budget, though, so you have to make the call based on what location gives you the best balance of cost and atmosphere. Are you coming to Florida?
Florida TaxWatch President and CEO Dominic M. Calabro released the following statement regarding public investment in FloridaMakes –
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Florida TaxWatch today released a new ‘Session Spotlight’ briefing encouraging the Florida Legislature to address inequities facing Florida-based business and taxpayers. The briefing by Florida’s premier independent government watchdog of 40 years urges the Legislature to take advantage of the opportunity to resolve the problem of uncollected sales taxes on remote sales, provided by the U.S. Supreme Court decision made last year in their Wayfair decision. In addition to the Session Spotlight briefing, Florida TaxWatch has also released a report, authored by Bob Goldman of Dean, Mead, and Dunbar, that goes further in-depth on the issue.
Florida TaxWatch has researched this issue for more than 15 years, producing numerous reports and offerings recommendations. But the courts’ physical presence requirement has always been a major obstacle. But now that obstacle is gone as a result of the US Supreme Court’s Wayfair decision, and it is time for the Legislature to fix this. Senate Bill 1112 can achieve this long-elusive goal.
The non-collection of sales taxes on sales to Florida customers by remote (out-of-state) sellers has been the most significant tax compliance and collection issue facing Florida and other states for many years. Remote vendors sell products by the internet, telephone, and mail. Historically, the courts have held that when a remote seller makes a sale to a person in a state in which the seller does not have a physical presence, that state cannot require the seller to collect the sales tax due and remit it to the state.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Since the enactment of the Communications Services Tax (CST) Simplification Act in 2001, Florida TaxWatch has released several reports recommending that the Legislature reduce this burdensome and highly regressive tax on consumers. A new report by Florida’s premier independent government watchdog of forty years addresses Florida’s very high CST rate and the impact it has on the state and the taxpayers.
Since the enactment of the Communications Services Tax (CST) Simplification Act in 2001, Florida TaxWatch has released several reports recommending that the Legislature reduce this burdensome and highly regressive tax on consumers. Florida’s CST is very high, relative to both other states and the sales tax on the purchase of other goods. This high rate makes the tax punitive and distortionary, and makes the state less competitive than other states, including the potential for reducing investment in broadband network infrastructure.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – A new report by Florida’s premier independent taxpayer research institute of forty years, Florida TaxWatch, provides an update of the true average cost of educating a K-12 public school student in Florida. The government watchdog previously released a similar independent study in March 2017 that considered all categories of expenditures necessary for the operation of public schools.
Per-student spending is an easy-to-use measure by which taxpayers can evaluate public school spending and efficiency. Most taxpayers, however, have little or no idea how much is spent per student in public schools. The most commonly reported per-student spending figures in Florida are based solely on funding provided through the Florida Education Finance Program (FEFP). For the 2017-18 school year, Florida public schools would have spent an average of $7,307 “per student” in FEFP funding. TaxWatch research shows that this is not, in fact, the true cost of education in Florida.
The eagerly awaited final General Revenue (GR) estimates to be used for the next state budget are out. Legislators and appropriations lobbyists were hoping for an infusion of cash to ease a tight budget year, made even tighter by hurricane-related costs and the competing costly priorities of the Governor and legislative leaders. Well, that did not happen. The estimates did not change much, decreasing by a total of $7.4 million.
As the Financial Impact Statement notes, there are a number of revenue implications with the proposed electricity deregulation ballot amendment. The direction and magnitude of these were all analyzed by Florida TaxWatch, and are described in some detail in the longer Financial Impact Statement, but were unfortunately not clearly shown as significantly negative in the 75-word statement that will accompany the initiative on the ballot should it reach that point.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Florida College System (FCS), which encompasses 28 institutions, is the primary access point to undergraduate education for more than 800,000 Floridians, including approximately 63 percent of recent high school graduates and returning adult students. In addition, the FCS compares very favorably with similar systems in other states, according to the number of Aspen Institute award winners and top ranking (2 nd nationally) by U.S. News and World Report.
On January 30th, 2019, Governor DeSantis signed an Executive Order establishing the goal to make Florida number 1 in the U.S. for workforce education by 2030 and to ensure that Florida students are ready for high-demand, high-wage jobs. In this report, TaxWatch takes a fresh look at the return on investment of the Florida College System.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – A new briefing by Florida’s premier independent government watchdog, Florida TaxWatch, addresses two important taxpayer safeguards that are currently under fire. Legislation has been filed again this session to allow for their posting on the web to be sufficient notice, rather than placing the notice in a local newspaper (Notice of Proposed Tax Increase and other legal notices) or delivering by first class mail (TRIM Notice).
The TRIM process is a vital taxpayer protection tool and we should continually strive to make it better. Lessening the ability of taxpayers to access this information weakens the law. Taxpayers deserve to get concise, accurate and unvarnished information about how local government decisions affect the property taxes that they pay.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – A new report by Florida’s premier independent government watchdog, Florida TaxWatch, finds that increasing access to palliative care can play an important role in improving patients’ quality of life and reducing healthcare spending.
This report, part of a series of TaxWatch research reports on long-term care, focuses on the benefits of palliative care and opportunities to increase use of these services in Florida. From our research, it is clear that community-based palliative care warrants special attention as a distinct and promising healthcare service.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Florida’s premier, independent government watchdog of forty years, Florida TaxWatch, has released an independent analysis about the point-of-care testing and treatment of influenza and streptococcus. Legislation has been proposed that would permit pharmacists to diagnose and treat influenza and strep at community pharmacies, using point-of-care tests that have approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. This has the potential to allow better patient experiences, improve the quality of care, and most importantly, encourage patients to take greater control of their medical conditions.
Point-of-care tests are simple medical tests that can be conducted at or near the point of care. Point-of-care tests bring the test immediately and conveniently to the patient. Legislation has been proposed that would permit pharmacists to diagnose and treat influenza and strep at community pharmacies, using point-of-care tests that have approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. TaxWatch undertakes this independent analysis of point-of-care testing and treatment of influenza and strep at the at the request of Representative Rene Plasencia, the sponsor of the proposed House legislation.
Distributed to the Bond Oversight Committee on February 25, 2019, this report examines the SMART program quarterly report for Q2 of FY2019.
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.
