A sin tax for the Florida Keys? Booze Earnings Could Assist Health Prices

A Florida Keys "sin tax" — a proposed new earnings tax on tobacco and bar-served booze — could fund worthwhile nonprofit organizations and lighten Monroe County's property-tax levy. That's the foundation of a draft resolution attaining Monroe County commissioners at their Aug. 17 meeting in Key West. in brief, it seeks a nonbinding referendum for the November everyday-election ballot that would signal whether Keys voters might desire a extra particular sales-tax plan in a future vote.

"We're asking voters about creating a committed funding supply for human services [organizations] to offset the hundreds of thousands of dollars in property taxes we currently pay for this," Mayor Heather Carruthers said in a written message. "The tax would be simplest on cigarettes and on alcoholic drinks served in bars," Carruthers spoke of, "and tourists would pay neatly more than half of it."

One of these tax might generate $10 million yearly for a proposed Keys Human services trust, advocates informed commissioners in may additionally. If authorised with the aid of commissioners Aug. 17, the draft resolution would query Nov. eight voters in the event that they may "assist a earnings tax on tobacco and served alcohol all through Monroe County" to fund native corporations that help "veterans, seniors, children, disabled and different vulnerable residents...."

No tax can be created by the November vote. results, if favorable at the pollbox, could be sent to the Florida Legislature showing "neighborhood support" for a change in state legislation that might enable a earnings tax for human-features bills. If the proposed November resolution is approved with the aid of voters, a second referendum with certain details of the tax plan would return to Monroe voters at a later date.

"It's to affect a Legislature inclined to assert no to give us the answer we desire," Commissioner David Rice has talked about. A state legislations enables this sort of income tax for human functions — however is proscribed to Miami-Dade County. "Unluckily, body of workers might locate no authorization beneath present state legislation which would meet the desires" of developing an identical fund for Monroe County, says a report to the board. In the pending finances for fiscal yr 2017, Monroe County might also "spend $three,904,875 on such health and welfare classes," an agenda summary says. a good deal of that money comes from property taxes.