FL TEACHER SALARIES HEADING IN THE WRONG DIRECTION

Sometimes we get a little carried away with optimism and forget that there are still some major issues that need fixing in Florida besides insurance. Unfortunately this article is one of them and I thought it needed to be discussed some. The LeRoy Collins Institute just published a report called "Tougher Choices: Shaping Florida's Future" which was written by Drs. David Denslow, James Dewey and the University of Florida's Bureau of Economic and Business Research. This report had nothing but bad news about where Florida ranks on a number of issues, from teacher salaries to high wage jobs to adequate roads. While it offered no insight in the article regarding high wage jobs or adequate roads, it did provide this info.

The salaries of FL teachers declined at the fourth fastest rate in the nation between 2000 and 2012 and that this would be tough to reverse without raising taxes (and we know that is not happening). It said that the lack of personal income tax results in heavy reliance on the sales and property taxes, which hurt businesses (and Rick Scott has proposed cutting the sales tax further, and property taxes are increasing with the properties that are being developed). Gas taxes are not indexed for inflation so these revenues are declining. The Retirement System is at risk due to the Legislature's consideration of requirements for new entrants to join a defined contribution plan. The cure for all these ills? Raise the sales tax! But as I said earlier, not only is that not happening, Rick Scott is promising to reduce it further if reelected. So how do these things get fixed? With more effective and efficient leadership which has clearly been missing for some time given these statistics. Funny, but I haven't heard about any of these issues in either governor candidates speeches or campaign visits. The real question is how can we get these important issues in a place where they get addressed??

What do you think?


Report: Florida is falling behind the rest of the country in many areas
http://www.bradenton.com/2014/02/20/5004581/report-florida-is-falling-behind.html

Orin Rosenfeld

President

Rosenfeld Realty Advisors

9858 Glades Rd. Suite 209

Boca Raton, FL 33434

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