State needs to keep its trust funds

March 1, 2012 | News Chief

This editorial appeared recently in The Florida Times-Union of Jacksonville.

The state of Florida has long played a cynical game with its trust funds, turning the term on its head.

One example is the Sadowski fund, which is designed to make housing more affordable. It was perfectly designed to produce funds based on documentary stamp taxes. When prices are high, the taxes produce more revenue.

Instead, state leaders have been siphoning most of this revenue into the general fund.

What’s worse is that the housing industry has been hard hit by the recession. These funds create jobs.

You can claim that you don’t believe in the entire concept of trust funds, but then wouldn’t it be more honest to reform the state’s tax code and eliminate them altogether?

Instead, there is this annual dance that takes place in which a token amount of trust fund money is retained.

According to the Tampa Bay Times, the current version of this dance would assign about $30 million of the $98 million in stamp tax revenue to affordable housing statewide.

The rest would go to the general fund. Never mind that affordable housing in this state is in crisis and that all of the money is needed to help create jobs.

And people wonder why the public has no trust in government.