WE RECOMMEND
Don't take chances with Amendment 4
Its main backers have a feel-good name - Florida Hometown Democracy - and its goals seem laudable- to better control growth, to protect Florida's natural resources and scenic beauty, and to get the public more involved in growth-management issues. After that, there's not much good to say about Amendment 4.
Passage of the proposed constitutional amendment in Tuesday's general election would be a net negative for Florida and its fragile economy.
And that we do not need - especially now and probably never.
The amendment would mandate a general public vote before any local government adopts a new comprehensive land use plan or amends an existing comprehensive land use plan.
Basically, the amendment would take from local government bodies, such as county and city commissions, and place directly with voters the responsibility for saying "yes" or "no" to comprehensive plans and changes to them.
But consider the additional elections - and the costs of those elections - these city- or countywide comprehensive plan votes would require. Consider how slow the approval process will be for private and public development projects. Consider the prospect of increased lawsuits by developers who want to build in a reasonable time frame but can't because the project-approval process is too slow or cumbersome. Consider the impracticality of it all.
Florida TaxWatch, which bills itself as a nonpartisan public watchdog group, has put a pencil to Amendment 4 and has determined that its passage - it requires at least 60 percent voter approval -"will severely harm the state's economic recovery, future job creation, and dampen personal income."
An economic analysis conducted for TaxWatch and released last week estimates that Amendment 4 would cost:
• More than 260,000 jobs.
• $16.7 billion in personal income over six years.
• $21.6 billion in gross state product over six years.
• $2.2 billion in state tax revenue over six years.
• $227 million loss in property taxes, or approximately $3.4 million per county.
After the TaxWatch report came out, Florida Hometown Democracy pushed back, stating that TaxWatch was making up "facts" to scare voters, that previous TaxWatch estimates of the economic impact of Amendment 4 had already been discredited and that TaxWatch "is far from an independent broker in this campaign."
There might be a grain of truth in Hometown Democracy's reaction to TaxWatch. But, given the anemic state of the Florida economy, can voters take a chance that TaxWatch's reading of Amendment 4 isn't mostly right?
We say, no, we can't take that chance. Just like the yard signs we see everywhere, we say "No on 4."
