by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
The state’s top taxpayer watchdog organization has created the Coast Savings Task Force its president and CEO says has the potential to find millions of dollars in savings for the state.
According to Florida TaxWatch’s Dominic Calabro, the task force includes the top two gubernatorial candidates — State CFO Alex Sink and Attorney General Bill McCollum — members of their staff, TaxWatch and PSS CEO David Smith, the leadership of both the State House and Senate and several business leaders from across the state.
“We think there is $3 billion to $4 billion of waste and savings,” said Calabro, adding much of that is in the form of duplication of services. “We hope to develop new policies and practices.”
Calabro said the idea behind the task force, and the reason for including the likely successor to Gov. Charlie Crist, is to create a system that holds the State accountable every year for the revenue generated and expenditures.
“We don’t need just a study. It has to be actionable. We want to modernize government and streamline it,” he said, adding TaxWatch, through the task force, has discovered almost $1 billion in potential savings since January. “The cost of not doing so is much greater than not implementing (cost savings ideas).”
In January, the task force will present its findings to various leaders within the Legislature.
“We need to begin to remove the nonsensical, major disincentives for government inefficiencies,” said Calabro, who will mark 30 years with Florida TaxWatch June 30 while the organization will mark its 30th year next month. “We need extraordinary fiscal stewardship. Rather than whine about a lack of leadership, we formed the task force. Working hard is tremendously harder than raising taxes. We have got to have an unrelenting dedication to challenging lieutenants.”
The 2010 Legislative session is still several months away, but Calabro and his staff are already preparing. One of the organization’s top objectives is to raise more awareness about the streamlined sales tax project. Calabro says annually the state is losing about $2 billion in uncollected sales tax as the result of what TaxWatch refers to as “remote” sales — those done via the Internet or through mail order businesses.
The law currently doesn’t require the remote seller to collect the sales tax and while Florida residents are obligated to pay it, most don’t.
“We would like to see it begin on a voluntary practice, but we are encouraging Congress to mandate the collection of out-of-state sales,” said Calabro. “We need to enforce it or get rid of the law.”
Calabro says if the sales tax on Internet and mail order sales was collected through a Congressional mandate, the State would “begin to collect $1 billion to $2 billion on an annual basis.”
Another aspect of the state’s economy TaxWatch will focus on in 2010 is population.
“We need to improve not just the collection of taxes, but our economic development policies,” he said. “We have a very, very alarming downward population rate last year. Last year, 58,000 people left Florida and we are still on a downward trajectory.
“Florida for too long has taken business and visitors for granted. No matter what, we thought they would still come and stay. The reality is, there is too much competition.”
Calabro said his organization is working with the Florida Association of Realtors to development a retirement visa. The idea is to make it attractive for retirees with proven financial assets to move to Florida, buy some of the excess housing and condo market but at the same time agree to not enter the local workforce.
“It will reduce unemployment and create more economic activity and more jobs,” he said. “It’s an idea whose time has come.”
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