The Florida Association of Counties paid $37,500 to Hill & Knowlton, a political consulting company, to design a 22 page playbook to be used in the war on tax relief by local governments and their supporters.



THE FAC "Toolkit For The Florida Special Session on Property Tax Reform" has been obtained by the Walton County Taxpayers Association.

It will be interesting to watch and determine if the Walton County Commissioners follow this game plan for influencing the Property Tax Special Session.

"TOOLKIT" by Clicking Here

Don’t miss the part about them sending home notes to parents from students telling them that school activities will be cut if there’s a rollback in spending

An excerpt from the overview states:

Florida’s 67 county governments are at a critical crossroads in the debate playing out in Tallahassee over how to reform Florida’s current property tax system. Some state leaders have cast local governments as the villain in this issue.

Indeed, some proposals would impose state mandated
caps on local government spending and cut billions of dollars that counties need to pay for critical local programs and services for our citizens.

As we head into a special session, it is essential for counties to effectively communicate how various proposals could hurt citizens at the local level. While various proposals impact individual counties in different ways, it is critical that Florida’s 67 county governments speak with one voice on property tax reform.

Here is the timetable for implementation of the Toolkit. 

Implementation Timeline

May 7 – 11
Use this week to prepare:
• Analysis of impacts and reductions to services – programs, divisions and employees
• Lay out a schedule of events / actions your county will implement to educate the public on impacts of certain??? property tax proposals (It appears Governor Crist will hit the road with the plan he’s already unveiled, while the House is getting set to issue something new next week – should we allude to these?
• Schedule future meetings with your legislative delegations – don’t forget to include your constitutional officers

May 14 – 18
Continue preparations
• Finalize analysis of impacts to services
• Compile detailed list of programs, divisions and positions reduced or eliminated
• Draft speeches, articles, OpEds or talking points for upcoming events
• Schedule Editorial Boards for week of June 4-8
• Schedule appearances before Rotary, Kiwanis, and other concerned citizen groups
• Schedule public hearing on your county budget and proposed cuts for May 28 – June 8 -

May 21 – 25
Finish preparations and begin implementation
• Publish list of impacts to services including reduction or elimination of programs, divisions and jobs. Publish on website, county bulletin board and release to media
• Focus special attention on cuts to public safety and to local social services agencies and non-profit community groups
• Deliver speeches to groups
• Meet with your legislative delegation
 

May 28 – June 8
Implementation
• Continue meeting with groups
• Meetings with legislative delegation
• Deliver letters to concerned citizens and users and supporters of community programs
• Host public hearing
• Meet with Editorial Boards
• Submit OpEd to paper
• Appear on local morning and noon time TV and radio programs
 

June 11

Pre-Session Kick Off
• Make final calls to legislators
• Be prepared to analyze new proposals
 

June 12 – 22
Special Session