Bill Would Replace School Property Taxes With Sales Taxes
TALLAHASSEE (CBS4)-A House Republican on Tuesday filed a bill that would eliminate property taxes that go to public schools and replace them with increased sales taxes.
The bill (HB 1181), filed by Rep. Fred Costello, R-Ormond Beach, calls for a 3 percent "education surtax" that would start to be collected in 2013., the News Service of Florida reported. The bill would repeal property taxes, known as local required effort, that are a key part of the state's education funding formula and other school-district property taxes that were not subject to voter approval.
The measure calls for stimulating "growth, business expansion and job creation through revenue-neutral tax reform.'' The 176-page bill also would take steps to increase collections of taxes on goods sold over the Internet, which it says could eventually lead to a rollback of the 3 percent sales tax for schools. Also, it calls for imposing sales taxes on bottled water as a way to help allow for a rollback.
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