Summary: This report presents the results of an independent assessment of a potential beverage container deposit refund system for Florida, conducted by the Economic Analysis Program of the Bureau of Economic and Business Research at the University of Florida, and funded by Owens Illinois, Inc. While the analysis represents the best professional judgment of the project team, it does not necessarily represent the views of either Owens Illinois Inc. or the University of Florida.
Florida, as one of only seven states to levy no tax on personal income, relies significantly more on the sales tax to fund its services than do states with a personal income tax. Since all consumers purchasing goods or services online are legally required to pay either sales or use tax, online transactions may represent a considerable source of revenue. To capture some of this revenue, Florida may wish to revise its tax laws, either by joining the Streamlined Sales Tax Project (SSTP) or by making smaller, technical modifications. This article explores issues surrounding each option.
Local governments in Florida are concerned that the same soaring house prices that have boosted their revenue base have also increased the wages they have to pay to attract a qualified work force, especially relative to similar local governments in many other states where the housing boom has been less remarkable. The doubling of Florida house prices over the past six years that increased local property tax revenue raises concerns that a shortage of affordable housing will undermine their efforts to recruit and retain employees.
Publication Date:
06/01/2007
Author(s):
Durrenberger, Tom; Dewey, James F.; Denslow, David
On January 29 of this year, Floridians will vote on a proposed constitutional amendment to reform the state’s property tax system. This proposal arose in response to widespread and growing dissatisfaction with the state’s current system of property taxation. Residents’ complaints about the tax system may be that total taxes are too high, that the distribution of taxes is inequitable, that high taxes on business make Florida uncompetitive, or that the current system “locks” owners in their present homestead properties.
Publication Date:
01/01/2008
Author(s):
Dewey, James F.; Denslow, David; Holt, Lynne; Lotfinia, Babak
Among the various uses of history, one is to tell a story. Telling a story involves picking out main themes, weighing competing interpretations of events, and relating what happened, usually in something close to chronological order. That is not what we do here. Another role for history is to provide background on current issues, how we got to where we are, with the belief that understanding how conditions that are of concern developed is a source of insight into creating ways to improve them.
Publication Date:
03/29/2002
Author(s):
Dewey, James F.; Denslow, David; Herndon, Jill Boylston; Irwin, Eve
Florida’s public highways are congested. At the same time there is excess capacity on private railroads. Further, the social costs of moving a ton-mile of freight—including costs from air pollution, accidents, congestion, and wear on the nation’s transportation system—are lower by rail than by truck for many types of freight movements. Given this situation, should the state design policies to increase utilization of the state’s railroads?
Publication Date:
09/30/2002
Author(s):
Dewey, James F.; Denslow, David; Lenze, David; Irwin, Eve
Intermodal transportation is an increasingly important aspect of Florida’s transportation system, one with the potential to boost the State’s economic development and sustain its environment. As such, intermodalism—the concept behind intermodal transportation—is increasingly drawing attention and consideration from agencies and policy-makers at all levels of government. Intermodalism and intermodal transportation can be ambiguous terms.
In recent years, numerous reports have analyzed Florida’s tax system and argued for change. Although these reports are useful in documenting the current situation, they tend to be one-dimensional—focusing only on the revenue side. In fact, state budgets reflect both revenues and services those revenues support, and thus analysis should take into account both elements—and the tradeoff between them. This analysis does just that, taking into account both taxes and the level of services they support.
The interaction between the Save Our Homes assessment limit and Florida’s housing boom created a property tax system riddled with inequities and inefficiencies. The inequities are obvious, and the newspapers are filled with examples: neighbors with similar houses but one paying twice the property tax of the other. A more subtle inequity is that Save Our Homes favors homesteaders over renters, who on average are less affluent. The inefficiencies are both economic and political.
Publication Date:
08/17/2007
Author(s):
Archer, Wayne R.; Denslow, David A.; Dewey, James F.; Gatzlaff, Dean H.; Johns, Tracy L.; Macpherson, David A.; Norrbin, Stefan C.; Schlagenhauf, Donald E.; Scicchitano, Michael J.; Sirmans, G. Stacy; Stroh, Robert C.; Williamson, Anne R.
