OUR VIEW
Ocala Star Banner | September 5, 2015
Last Modified: Friday, September 4, 2015 at 8:44 p.m.
Another example: This year, the Legislature swept $67 million from environmental trust funds. That harm was compounded by the fact that the Legislature failed to heed direction from voters who approved constitutional Amendment 1 during the 2014 general election. That amendment, supported by 75 percent of voters, was intended to ensure that one-third of documentary tax revenue would be directed to the Land Acquisition Trust Fund. Some $244 million should have been budgeted for that fund but, according to TaxWatch, only $52 million was dedicated to land acquisition, although “another $15 million went to conservation and rural-lands easement and $20 million for the Kissimmee River restoration.”
Bottom line, TaxWatch concluded: The passage of Amendment 1 “did not lead to an increase in funding for land acquisition, or even environmental programs. In fact, funding for all environmental agencies was reduced in the FY 2015-16 budget.”
Unconscionable.
Most trust funds are financed by revenue from fees or other charges collected by the state. They are supposed to be dedicated to specific programs. Using those dollars for other purposes breaks what TaxWatch calls a “social contract.”
We agree with TaxWatch that, in dire circumstances such as the Great Recession, some trust-fund sweeps were necessary. But when the strategy is used over and over, in good times and bad, it becomes a crutch, indeed policy.
TaxWatch has recommended that the Legislature require a separate bill — analyzed, reviewed and voted on by lawmakers — each time a revenue sweep from a trust fund is proposed. Staff analysis “should compare what would be funded with and without the sweep, the associated costs and benefits, and should address the current tax or fee structure that funds that trust fund to determine if the current levels are appropriate,” TaxWatch advised.
Lawmakers should be asking those questions already.
A tougher sweep review would represent a big but needed change in the budget process and allow the people to “follow the money.” We urge lawmakers to get to work on these reforms now, before patience — and public trust in the trust funds — runs out.
Another example: This year, the Legislature swept $67 million from environmental trust funds. That harm was compounded by the fact that the Legislature failed to heed direction from voters who approved constitutional Amendment 1 during the 2014 general election. That amendment, supported by 75 percent of voters, was intended to ensure that one-third of documentary tax revenue would be directed to the Land Acquisition Trust Fund. Some $244 million should have been budgeted for that fund but, according to TaxWatch, only $52 million was dedicated to land acquisition, although “another $15 million went to conservation and rural-lands easement and $20 million for the Kissimmee River restoration.”
Bottom line, TaxWatch concluded: The passage of Amendment 1 “did not lead to an increase in funding for land acquisition, or even environmental programs. In fact, funding for all environmental agencies was reduced in the FY 2015-16 budget.”
Unconscionable.
Most trust funds are financed by revenue from fees or other charges collected by the state. They are supposed to be dedicated to specific programs. Using those dollars for other purposes breaks what TaxWatch calls a “social contract.”
We agree with TaxWatch that, in dire circumstances such as the Great Recession, some trust-fund sweeps were necessary. But when the strategy is used over and over, in good times and bad, it becomes a crutch, indeed policy.
TaxWatch has recommended that the Legislature require a separate bill — analyzed, reviewed and voted on by lawmakers — each time a revenue sweep from a trust fund is proposed. Staff analysis “should compare what would be funded with and without the sweep, the associated costs and benefits, and should address the current tax or fee structure that funds that trust fund to determine if the current levels are appropriate,” TaxWatch advised.
Lawmakers should be asking those questions already.
A tougher sweep review would represent a big but needed change in the budget process and allow the people to “follow the money.” We urge lawmakers to get to work on these reforms now, before patience — and public trust in the trust funds — runs out.