City of Sarasota Commission To Tax Sarasotans for 30 Years Without Their Permission? | Red County
I am posting RED County’s own Richard Swier’s article on Sarasota and FPL’s franchise agreement. It’s an interesting take on the franchise fees.
Reprinted from Red County:
Today I received an e-mail from a Mr. Bill Johnson, President of Brilliant Harvest, LLC in Lakewood Ranch, Florida. Mr Johnson is concerned about a Florida Power & Light (FPL) franchise agreement that the City of Sarasota Commission will take up at a regularly scheduled meeting on May 18, 2010.
Here are the two most interesting paragraphs from Mr. Johnson’s e-mail:
“I am not sure if you are aware, but tomorrow night [May 18], the Sarasota City commission will be discussing its FPL franchise agreement, which is due to be renewed for a new 30 year period. FPL has been privately negotiating this agreement with the city for some time, but it got on the city council agenda only Friday. The franchise agreement allows FPL to operate in the city and provide services to the city and its residents.
Just so you know, the city receives revenue from the franchise agreement, which represents a tax that you do not have the opportunity to vote on. If you live in the city (or county, but they approved the franchise agreement renewal last year, so we missed that opportunity), approximately 6% of your electric bill goes back to the city. Imagine if someone tried to put a 30 year mileage on the ballot, with no opportunity to alter it?”
I contacted Mayor Kelly Kirschner about the FPL franchise agreement. Mayor Kirschner replied, “Mr. Johnson is correct – it’s a tax that’s locked in for 30 years. The last time it was discussed was in 1980. I hope you and others in the community will be able to come out and participate in our important conversation.”
Mr. Johnson is alleging that this constitutes “taxation without representation” by not allowing voters to make their voices heard via the ballot box.
This is an interesting position and one worthy of further analysis. Every city and county in America has right of ways for public utilities. Among these utilities are of course power companies, cable companies and telephone companies. Over the years local governments have found a way to leverage these right of ways into cash for maintaining government services. What most of us do not realize is that any franchise fee placed upon these public utilities is in fact a tax. It appears on our cable, telephone and power bills as a tax. These taxes are a pass through to you and me, the consumer.
Government has found many ways to legally tax us without asking us. I did a series of articles about the Sarasota County School Board using Certificates of Participation to fund school construction. This process, while legal, in-debts Sarasota property owners without their permission.
Is this legal? Probably because the City owns the right of ways. But should these right of ways be used as a back door means to raise taxes on all of us? Not a good idea. What are your thoughts?
