TALLAHASSEE Heralded by lawmakers and Gov. Charlie Crist as
potential saviors in the property tax crisis, some members of the
Taxation and Budget Review Commission are facing a far simpler
challenge of showing up for meetings.
MISSING IN ACTION
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The 25-member Taxation and Budget Review Commission
has a historic chance to alter the state's tax system, but
attending meetings has proven to be a stiff challenge for some.
Here are the members with the best and worst attendance
records:
Best:
Allan Bense -- Panama City businessman and TBRC
chairman -- 100 percent
Randy Miller -- Florida Retail Federation lobbyist
in Tallahassee -- 100 percent
Jacinta Mathis -- Orlando attorney -- 100 percent
(3 meetings by phone)
Worst:
Bruce Kyle -- circuit judge from Fort Myers -- 18
percent
Bobby Martinez -- Coral Gables attorney -- 29
percent
Mark Bostick -- Polk County business executive --
53 percent
Alan Levine -- former Broward County health
executive; left the committee Friday -- 53 percent
Source: Taxation and Budget Review Commission
Crist and legislative leaders appointed the
TBRC's members last year. The group meets every 20 years with
the unique power to place constitutional amendments directly on the
ballot. They have a May 8 deadline to finish business this year. A
review of TBRC records shows 8 of the 25 members have missed at
least 25 percent of the meetings held since last March. That does
not include subcommittees, which have an even lower average
attendance rate.
'I wish everyone could have made all the
meetings,' said Allan Bense, the TBRC chairman from Panama
City, who has a perfect attendance record. 'But we live in the
real world. These people are volunteers; they are business leaders,
and it's very difficult for some of them.'
A review of attendance records shows Bruce Kyle, a
judge and former lawmaker from Fort Myers, has made it to only 3 of
the 17 full TBRC meetings held since last March. Bobby Martinez, a
Coral Gables attorney, has attended five meetings. Mark Bostick, a
Polk County business executive, has attended nine meetings. Phone
messages and e-mails left for Kyle and Bostick on Monday afternoon
were not returned.
Martinez said Monday he has devoted many hours to
the job, including the preparation of studies on topics as diverse
as class-size limits and water management.
He said attendance is not the best measure of
effectiveness since many of the meetings so far have centered on
routine updates and discussion.
'Frankly, I've done a lot of work for this
commission,' he said, adding that he has three children and a
career to manage as well. 'I did the best I could.'
Alan Levine, a former Broward County health
executive who recently took a position with the state of Louisiana,
resigned on Friday due to his change in jobs. Richard Corcoran, the
former chief of staff to House Speaker Marco Rubio, R-West Miami,
will step in.
Bense and other TBRC members who were available on
Monday said that low attendance has not affected the group's
work, but that the 25 members will need to show up for the next two
months as critical plans are considered.
'There haven't been any negative effects
from poor attendance to date,' said former Senate President
John McKay, a Republican from Bradenton. 'But I think it's
vital that every member make every effort possible to be there
going forward.'
On Friday, due in part to storms that hampered
travel, only 16 of the 25 members were present at a Tallahassee
conference room. Since 17 votes are needed to approve any proposed
constitutional amendments and votes cannot be registered by phone,
only recommendations to the Legislature could be considered.
At least one effort may have been denied due to
attendance issues.
TBRC member Les Miller, a former state senator from
Tampa, had proposed a plan to move the start date of the
legislative session from March to January. His hope was to allow
local governments more time to adjust to legislative mandates.
On the first try in January, the measure was
defeated 16-1 when only 17 members were present. A
're-vote' in February was held when more members were
there, but it failed 13-6.
Miller said Monday that the measure might have
passed the first time had more members been present to supply the
one needed vote.
'That's the way things go. That one vote
basically defeated it,' said Miller.
Some lawmakers, struggling last year to deal with
tax cut plans, said the TBRC would be more likely to avoid
political controversy and make necessary changes to the state's
tax system. And in his State of the State address last week, Crist
encouraged the TBRC to consider deeper property tax cuts -- a task
lawmakers are unlikely to address in a tight fiscal year.
Expensive airfare and the remoteness of Tallahassee
have always made it hard for south Floridians to participate. But
few TBRC members have as far to travel as Ken Wilkinson, the Lee
County property appraiser who has made it to almost every meeting.
Instead of booking a flight that could easily cost $1,000
round-trip, Wilkinson has made the 353-mile one-way drive for 16 of
the 17 TBRC meetings.
'It's a killer. But I have no regrets,'
he said. In addition to the 17 TBRC meetings, the members are each
on a subcommittee that has met a similar number of times. Add in
conference calls, statewide meetings last year, the study of 50
different ideas related to myriad issues and the usual short notice
for meetings, and the work load has surprised even Tallahassee
veterans.
'I'm not sure any of us sat down and
thought how much time this would really require,' McKay said.
'It's been more than every member expected.'
