Truth in advertising

The Broward County Commission delayed a final decision on a sales tax referendum. If approved the measure would be placed on the November ballot.

Do these Commissioners take voters for imbeciles? (TFM has called the Broward County Commission Knuckleheads in the past) I'm wondering because up till last night the referendum would have included language saying the tax would reduce future pollution and lessen traffic congestion. Those are the types of arguments you make in your sales pitch to the people(and a weak one it is. Trust me, as long as people have cars they are going to use them to commute to work and other activities. You'll never get a family of 4 with a SUV to say. "Today we're going to take the bus!") not put into a measure's language. For how can the Commission prove this will happen? All they can prove is if you'll vote yes, You'll pay more for taxes while the county gets more revenue out of your pocket to spend on whatever they vote for. Anything else is conjecture.

Florida voters are smarter than the politicians think they are.

Linked to- Bright & Early,

Broward County voters will be asked in November whether they want to pay for a major court expansion and whether they favor property tax reform, but hurdles are arising to a proposed referendum on a new sales tax for mass transit.

Business executives backing the transit tax want $750,000 in tax money to market the proposal to the public, but a majority of county commissioners said Tuesday they oppose any public financing. Commissioners also scrapped rosy language from the ballot wording about how the 1-cent tax would ease traffic congestion and air pollution.

The commission delayed a final decision on the sales tax referendum until next week even while scheduling the other two ballot issues. The decision on the court referendum came after planners said changes made in the plan to build a high-rise courthouse and renovate satellite courts Monday reduced the cost to $450 million from $760 million -- in line with original estimates at the beginning of summer.

Leaders of the transit tax push said they will press the nine-member commission in coming days to allow the vote and to help fund an education campaign.

"This is not a plan of just a group of individuals in the business community, but the business community is responding to a strategic goal of the county that there is a crisis in transportation that must be dealt with," said John Hart, a former county commissioner and leader of the People for Progress tax advocacy group.

Under their proposal, voters would be asked to raise the sales tax one penny to 7 cents to pay for a $12.6 billion expansion of mass transit over the next 25 years. Among the projects that would be financed are passenger rail service, downtown trolleys, express bus service and shorter wait times on major transit routes.

County attorneys gave commissioners proposed ballot language that said the tax would pay to "reduce traffic congestion," "decrease future pollution" and "provide safe transportation facilities." Commissioners, who have been closely divided on the tax vote, complained that was too promotional and ordered a rewrite with more neutral wording.

Mayor Ben Graber also yanked from the commission agenda the $750,000 to finance educational advertising. He said the tax proponents asked him to do so because of concern that they lack support at this point for the aid and want more time to make their case.

Graber and commissioners Jim Scott, John Rodstrom, Suzanne Gunzburger, Lois Wexler and Josephus Eggelletion told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel that they will oppose any public funding for the tax campaign. Tax money can't be spent to campaign in favor of the ballot issue, but can be spent on general education for the proposal.