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Legislative leaders are promising temporary relief to business owners facing an enormous tax increase. Florida’s unemployment tax has gone up between 5-hundred and a thousand percent to help pay jobless claims. As Whitney Ray tells us, if the tax is delayed the state will have to continue borrowing money from the federal government to pay the jobless.

This cleaning service owes the state 22-thousand dollars in unemployment taxes. This gas station owes even more. Both businesses are seeing an 500 percent increase making it difficult to find the tax payment due March 31st.

“Most of my customers have already let me know they aren’t going to accept any fee increases,” said Business Owner Randy Marin.

Thousands of business owners are asking legislative leaders for help saying the increase could force more layoffs. Senate President Jeff Atwater got the message.

“We hope to have relief for them on Governor Crist desk the first week of session,” said Atwater.

The legislation would place a temporary hold on the tax increase, which was raised to help repay debt accumulated by skyrocketing unemployment.

Since August the state has borrowed more than a billion federal dollars to pay unemployment claims. Tabling the tax increase will force the state to take on more debt, which business owners will eventually have to pay back.

“The business community is very well aware that there will be obligations in the future and there will be interest on the money in the future, so none of this is without complete and thorough knowledge,” said House Speaker Larry Cretul.

But delaying the tax until the economy improves could help many businesses stay afloat. The state is borrowing an estimated 300 million dollars a month. The money is interest free until January of next year.