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Time To “Geek Up” - Take A Look At Your State Budget, You Might Be Surprised At What You Find

We are based in Florida, which obviously has a state budget deficit.  In order to balance the budget as required by law, the legislature had to make some tough decisions.  Along the way, they also made some questionable decisions.  I would guess that this is common around the country, but I wonder how many people actually look to see exactly where cuts are being made and where funds have been taken from to make up the shortfall.

In the Sunshine State our government produces a report called “Measures Affecting Revenue”, which is exactly what it is.  Unlike many government reports, this one is clear and to the point.  It shows those fees/taxes that have been increased that add to revenue as well as redirects.

If you look at this report for FL, you will see the many areas in which we are taxing residents and visitors under the guise of higher fees - water bottles, driving records, vehicle registration, etc.  Any time you raise a fee on a constituant, you have effectively lowered their standard of living, unless of course you have the power to raise their income by a corresponding amount.  There is no income-raising going on right now.  In fact, in terms of unemployment, hours worked, and wages paid, we are going the other direction.  So what we have in FL, and I presume around the country, is a steady march to move funds from constituants to public coffers. 

Note that none of these fees have anything to do with income.  It doesn’t matter if you make $20k per year or $2mm, if you register a car you will pay more.  There is no question that taxes are going up on everyone.

As for “redirects”, that’s an interesting point to consider.  Note that each line item shows how the state is redirecting funds from a “trust” into the GR, or general revenue.  Wasn’t that money held in, well, trust?  Now monies that were held specifically aside for ecosystems, marine resources, etc. are being swept over to fund the general operating expenses of the state.  This is obviously not the intended use of the funds (hence the trust accounts), but was a less painful step than either raising more taxes or cutting more spending.  It’s also unsustainable.

I strongly encourage you to poke around your own state’s reports and see if you can find something similar to this one for FL.  It’s either quite an eye opener, or a yawner, depending on how interested you are in where your money goes.