Most states that lean conservative, have these weird plans to cut taxes! Florida is no exception, with lots of moves designed to "help the average individual" - though we all know that these types of things disproportionately benefit the wealthy among us. And I just read about yet another push to eliminate property taxes in my fair state. Because #FreeDumb
So thanks Florida legislature for trying to make the tax less of a burden, while allowing for these silly loopholes that allow communities to make up their own rules for "taxation" - without the need to have anyone present (don't we have a constitutional right to know our accusers?!) and a complete inability to fight against this.
The obvious problem is that counties and cities have less in the way of capital that they can spend on infrastructure, services (including emergency type things), and even schools.
To combat that loss of revenue, there are many communities around Florida that are finding new ways to take in money from residents. Among them are automated cameras around school busses, in school zones, and now in construction sites. They use radar detection to measure speed, and read the tag on the car. They then issue a citation to the owner of that car for an amount. Its not a ticket, per se, and it comes off as a kind of a tax.
There are so many issues with this setup, but the biggest concern is about enforcement. Take school zones, for example. The system operates on school days for a period of time (I think its around 30 minutes) *before* the stated school zone time, and around 30 minutes *after* the stated school zone time, it will generate these citations if a driver is 10 miles an hour over the 15 MPH school zone. And during the rest of the time, it will generate a citation if you are 10 miles an hour over the regular pasted speed limit for non-school times.
School zones here all have a flashing warning light to let you know that you're in a school zone, but they go on during the hours posted - not in the 30 mins before and after. So they are utterly meaningless.
Oh, and don't miss the fact that some communities don't follow this rule, and simply issue citations if you're going over 25MPH during the school day. Full stop. Even though the signage indicates otherwise.
Its a mess, but has generated millions for these communities!
So thanks Florida legislature for trying to make the tax less of a burden, while allowing for these silly loopholes that allow communities to make up their own rules for "taxation" - without the need to have anyone present (don't we have a constitutional right to know our accusers?!) and a complete inability to fight against this.
