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Suncoast Pasco News

Usual Confusion

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THE SUNCOAST NEWS

Published: August 20, 2008

Last week, Leon Circuit Court Judge John C. Cooper tossed - at least until the appeal - Amendment 5 off the ballot. In his ruling, Cooper held the proposed change to the state constitution "fails to fairly inform the voter, in clear and unambiguous language of the chief purposes of the amendment."

If approved, Amendment 5 would do away with the public schools property tax levy the state requires each county to have. Among the deficits Cooper cited in his ruling is the lack of wording on Amendment 5 specifying that the tax revenue from other sources the amendment mandates would only be required for one year. In addition, Cooper agreed with the plaintiff in the legal action on which he was ruling that the amendment's title does not refer to the other changes to the state's tax system it would implement.

Regular readers of this space know we aren't fond of micromanaging state or local government actions by amending the state constitution. A constitution merely sets up a government structure through which the people's elected representatives operate. So we won't be that broken up if Cooper's ruling isn't overturned on appeal.

We hold that opinion even though we understand the loose-knit group behind the challenge to Amendment 5 includes the sort of people - most notably teacher union officials - who oppose any change to the public education status quo, even the parts that clearly aren't working. That, however, is an argument for another day.

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