Florida Gov. Rick Scott during his final year in office wants fees and taxes cut by $180 million.
Scott announced the proposal on Monday during stops at businesses in three Florida cities. It will be considered during the 2018 legislative session that starts in January.
The package is much smaller than last year’s $618 million request and is directed at residents instead of businesses.
Scott wants a 10-day back-to-school tax holiday where residents would not pay sales taxes on clothes. He also is proposing tax holidays where the state would waive taxes on hurricane preparation supplies.
The governor also wants to cut the price of renewing a driver’s license.
State legislators have already warned that they may have to pursue budget cuts during the 2018 session.
Read the press release below:
Today, Governor Rick Scott announced that he will propose $180 million in tax cuts for Florida families as part of his 2018-2019 recommended budget. The Governor’s proposal includes sales tax holidays to help families prepare for the school year and hurricane season, and reductions to many of the fees on driver’s licenses. Since 2010, the Governor has cut taxes more than 75 times, saving Floridians more than $7.5 billion. In August, Governor Scott also announced that he will propose an amendment to Florida’s Constitution to make it harder for politicians to raise taxes by requiring a supermajority vote by future Florida legislatures to raise any taxes or fees. Read more HERE[flgov.com].
Governor Scott said, “I am proud to announce today that during the upcoming legislative session, I will fight to cut $180 million in taxes for families. This includes sales tax holidays to help families get prepared for the school year and for hurricane season, which is especially important following the devastation we saw from Hurricane Irma. I am also proposing to roll back many driver’s license fees, which will put money back into pockets of virtually every Florida family. These fees were raised in 2009 before I came into office, and I am proud to cut them by more than 58 percent to help every Floridian when they renew their license.
“Over the past seven years, we have worked relentlessly to turn around Florida’s economy and the results are clear – our unemployment rate has dropped to a more than ten year low of 3.8 percent, business have created more than 1.3 million private sector jobs and we have been able to make historic investments in education, transportation and our environment. All of this was accomplished while cutting taxes more than 75 times, saving more than $7.5 billion for Florida families and job creators. Cutting taxes works and the rest of the nation needs to follow Florida’s lead. I am also fighting to make it harder for politicians to raise taxes in the future and I look forward to working with the Legislature during the upcoming session on these proposals.”
Governor Scott’s $180 million tax cut package includes:
Sales Tax Holidays to Save Families $88 Million – The Governor’s recommended budget includes funding for four sales tax holidays which will save Floridians an estimated $88 million in the upcoming fiscal year. These sales tax holidays include:
- $73 million from a 10-day back-to-school sales tax holiday; and
- $15 million from three one-week disaster preparedness sales tax holidays which would take place in May, June and July.
Reduction in Driver’s License Fees to Save Floridians $87 Million – Governor Scott is proposing to reduce the fees for driver’s licenses. These fees were increased in 2009, prior to Governor Scott taking office. These fee cuts include:
- $67 million in savings from reducing the fee for a renewal of a regular driver’s license by more than 58 percent from $48 to $20; and
- $20 million in savings from reducing the fee on an original regular driver’s license by more than 43 percent from $48 to $27 and the fee on an original Commercial Driver’s License by more than 10 percent from $75 to $67.
Reduction in Traffic Citation Fines to Save Floridians $4 Million – Governor Scott is proposing to reinstate the 18 percent reduction of eligible traffic citation fines, which was repealed in 2009 prior to Governor Scott taking office, for individuals who attend a basic driver improvement school.
More details on the Governor’s proposed budget will be made available in the coming weeks.
