The new Broward County penny tax is set to appear on on Nov. 8. The ballot will include two bills that raise the current six percent sales tax rate by 0.5 percent each, resulting in a total 7 percent sales tax should the measure pass.
The first 0.5 percent will go towards measures to ease heavy traffic, such as synchronizing traffic lights and expanding bus services. County officials point this out transportation is an economic engine that needs to be maintained at as high of a quality as it can.
The second 0.5 percent will go towards municipal infrastructure. This is planned to cover anything from paving roads and fixing drainage pipes to building new emergency service stations. The projection for the revenue generated is 15 billion dollars in 30 years, which comes to 500 million dollars a year. If one of these taxes fail to pass, both will fail.
Albert Williams, associate professor of finance and economics, shared his opinions on the tax.
“We need to ensure that these funds are spent very efficiently and that’s very hard to verify,” he said.
When asked about how this would impact the average citizen in Broward County, Michael Hoffman, professor of taxation, said, that Florida does allow sales tax to be deductible from income taxes. “Problem is three out of four taxpayers don’t itemize their deductions, therefore three out of four taxpayers can’t get any benefit out of the tax deduction.”
Hoffman pointed out that sales taxes are regressive. This means it’s generally the lower income households that get hurt the most by it, but it’s less burdensome than a property tax increase.
Williams said that knowing that Broward County’s history of inefficient spending and budgeting practices is a sentiment shared by some Broward County residents. When asked if the 15 billion dollars in 30 years was a viable projection, he said, “I feel it is an underestimate. I don’t think that is close to enough to meet the requirements.”
Williams then pointed out that the size and scope of some of the infrastructure projects in Broward were so large that 15 billion dollars, broken down to 500 million dollars a year, won’t be nearly enough to cover it since bridges and highways need repairing along with new pipes and flood pumps for the coastline; however, he does agree that the tax should be passed.
“When I vote, I will vote for it because I believe that there is a need.” he said.
Williams said that the other option would probably be to increase property taxes and that option will be harder on the local community than a sales tax.
The community is currently split on whether they will vote for or against the taxes.
For more information, visit apennyatwork.com for detailed plans and explanations on how the tax will be used.
