Florida's legislature should be congratulated for setting the financial groundwork for a new and improved Florida.
What it did, rather than finding a short-term revenue source such as temporarily increasing sales taxes to offset the effect of declining sales, was raise everything that didn't have "tax" in the name: tuition, tolls, tariffs, tags, user, entrance, license fees, surcharges, fines, court costs and probably some I don't recall.
When the economy rebounds and sales tax revenues return to former levels, those permanent fees will fund improvements in understaffed and failing state programs such as education.
A vocal segment of the population said "no new taxes" and, except for the popular tobacco tax increase, our representatives delivered.
How fortunate they weren't handcuffed by a "no new fees" mandate. Then where would we be?
John Dyce
Lorida
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