Santa Rosa County Commission Chairman Sam Parker sounded supremely confident as he gaveled in a public hearing ahead of a vote to repeal county business tax receipt fees.
"I believe we're extending a tremendous olive branch of good will to thousands of people in this community by being able to repeal this," he said.
He would leave the meeting sorely disappointed, as three of his fellow board members failed to see the logic in removing a tax that benefits the county's property appraiser by allowing him to keep tabs on businesses operating within the county.
Commissioners Colten Wright, Ray Eddington and Kerry Smith voted against eliminating collection of the business tax receipts until such time that a more efficient way to track local businesses can be found.
Property Appraiser Greg Brown told commissioners Friday that should the Tax Collectors Office end the collection of business tax receipts he was not certain he could "capture" the information he relies upon to do his job.
The repeal could also increase his office's workload to the extent that he would have to hire new staff, Brown said, and, importantly, prevent him from notifying new businesses of their eligibility to receive a $25,000 property tax exemption.
The business tax receipts, otherwise known as an occupational license tax, are annual fees assessed to new business. By paying it businesses identify themselves to the Tax Collector and Property Appraiser who use the information to impose tangible taxes.
Previously:Santa Rosa commissioner wants to repeal local business taxes
The business tax receipts were assessed for the first time in the 1980s and have in many ways become antiquated and obsolete, as Parker noted. Everything from produce markets to cemeteries are taxed and businesses that include clairvoyants and the proprietors of traveling medicine shows are listed as taxable entities.
The taxes for the most part aren't significant. Contractors pay based on the number persons employed during a license year, with taxes capped at $468.75 for 201 or more employees. The highest fees assessed are to emigrant and labor agents, who are required to pay $1,875.
Last year only approximately $140,000 in business tax receipts was collected.
Wright said that having gone through the paperwork prepared in advance of Friday's public hearing, it was clear to him that "there's plenty of room for improvement" with the business tax receipt collections.
Wright opined that repealing the business tax receipts and forcing the property appraiser to hire more staff sounded to him like reducing county revenues while increasing government.
"I like the idea, I'm just not really able to make a good sound judgement of how to replace it at this time," he said.
Eddington said the idea of repealing the tax without having something in place to replace its benefits didn't make sense to him.
"I don't think we and do this right now. We have to figure out what to do (to capture business identities) and do it the right way," he said. "We've got to figure out how to fix it."
Commissioner James Calkins joined Parker in supporting the repeal. He called Wright's contention that removing a tax would increase government "the opposite of common sense."
He referred to fellow commissioners standing in opposition to the repeal RINO's (Republicans in Name Only.)
Wright fired back by telling Calkins he'd watched as Calkins scrolled on his computer and ignored the concerns expressed during the meeting by the property appraiser and tax collector. Calkins, Wright said, sought only to make the repeal discussion "a campaign event."
Calkins, Parker and Wright are all facing opposition for their commission seats this election year.
Following the lengthy public hearing, commissioners spent much less time approving a tentative annual budget of $263.9 million that features a millage rate rollback of 5.955 mills and an ad valorem increase of $6.5 million.
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