Voters will decide this fall whether a 20-year-old conservation trust fund should be closed to the Legislature’s prying hands
January 27, 2014 / By MCKENZIE CASSIDY / mcassidy@breezenewspapers.com
[dropcap]F[/dropcap]lorida’s Water and Land Legacy was the state non-profit organization that collected 696,294 valid signatures as of Jan. 23 to put the amendment on the November 2014 ballot.
Proceeds from the state’s documentary stamp tax, charged in real estate transactions, have been used for the last two decades to protect the state’s unique ecosystem, but since 2009 the Florida Legislature has been transferring it into the state’s General Revenue Fund and using it for other projects.
“Since 2009, funding for land conservation in Florida has been slashed by 97 percent,” said Will Abberger, director of the Trust for Public Land’s Conservation Finance service. “Florida needs a dedicated, sustainable source of funding to protect our drinking water quality and water quality of our lakes, rivers, and streams, and wildlife habitat.”
Abberger said that as far back as the 1990’s the Legislature regularly appropriated $300 million a year for land conservation alone, but those funds have been cut to nearly zero in the last four years.
Projections from Florida’s Water and Land Legacy indicate that the amendment would secure $5 billion for conservation over the next 10 years.
Although the amendment doesn’t increase taxes or create a new program, it does insulate the current trust fund from being accessed by the Florida Legislature for other purposes that don’t protect the environment. In fact, specific language in the amendment states, “the fund shall not be or become commingled with the General Revenue Fund of the state.”
“They will have to use the money for land and water conservation purposes only,” said Abberger.
To read complete story – click here[…]
