Tax Cut Plan in Jeopardy
January 13th, 2011 by flanewsGovernor Rick Scott will have to win over the legislature to get a key part of his jobs plan in place.
Scott wants to cut the corporate income tax by three percent this year to attract new businesses to Florida. The cut would take more than 800 million dollars out of the state budget. He also wants to lower property taxes by 19 percent, at a cost of 1.4 billion dollars. State lawmakers are already facing a 3.5 billion dollar shortfall without the tax cuts. With the cuts it would swell to 5.7 billion. Senate President Mike Haridopolos says it would be almost impossible to balance the budget and give tax cuts this year.
“Any tax cut proposal would have to be met with equal spending cuts to make it viable. I would love to cut taxes. Nothing would make me happier, but unlike in Washington D.C. you have to have a balanced budget,” said Haridopolos.
And it’s up to lawmakers, not the governor to balance the budget. Scott will release his budget recommendations on February 4th. Lawmakers will consider it when building the real budget.
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