As the Florida Legislature prepares to go into conference budget negotiations to finalize the FY2018-19 budget, state estimators gave lawmakers a bit of good news. Florida’s General Revenue (GR) Estimating Conference met on February 9 and forecast that the state would collect an additional $461.8 million in FY2017-18 and FY2018-19.
The budget’s bottom lines are relatively close, with the Senate’s $87.3 billion plan coming in at only $100 million more than the House. While the totals are similar, some big differences exist, particularly in education and environmental funding.
Having led in the enactment of Florida’s current consitutional state revenue limitation, Florida TaxWatch has been recommending a simpler and higher standard to pass tax increases since 1995.
The new Outlook forecasts that after funding a continuation budget, there will be $52.0 million in General Revenue (GR) left over, until the financial impacts of Hurricane Irma are considered.
Estimating Conference says that revenue from the gaming agreement that was reached in July between the state and the Seminole Tribe will more than offset a projected revenue loss for the state.
A new survey from TaxWatch finds that very few Floridians are aware of the Commission
Florida tourism is an absolutely critical industry to the state, employing millions of people and contributing millions of dollars to state coffers. Despite its importance to the Sunshine State, tourism is in the crosshairs of the Florida House, a costly decision according to the latest report by the state’s premier non-partisan government watchdog, Florida TaxWatch.
If you own non-homestead property, there is a chance you will be seeing a significant tax increase on that property in 2019.
Pursuant to Article III, section 19(i) of the Florida Constitution, the Government Efficiency Task Force (“Task Force”) is pleased to submit its final recommendations to the Governor, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, the Chair and Vice Chair of the Legislative Budget Commission. The enclosed report includes 29 recommendations which, if implemented, will significantly improve the efficiency of government operations and will reduce the costs of government by more than $2 billion annually.
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