Taxpayers have a lot riding on the upcoming special session of the Florida Legislature. If all goes well, taxpayers will soon benefit from savings on both their property taxes and auto insurance costs. As the focus of the special session, property tax relief in some form is all but guaranteed. However, for auto insurance savings to become a reality, Legislators must continue to stand strong for consumers and abolish the no-fault tax.
Florida's no-fault system is costing Florida drivers $1.7 billion a year.
The good news is that the Legislature has already delivered auto insurance relief to consumers by allowing the 2007 regular legislative session to end without extending Florida's broken no-fault system. During the regular session, all attempts at any real reform of the broken no-fault system were blocked by special interests who want nothing more than to protect the no-fault gravy train. Lawmakers did the right thing and decided to eliminate this broken system that provides limited protections to Florida drivers. That means the average Florida family could save $360 a year on auto insurance costs.
Unfortunately, those savings aren't guaranteed because some special interests are attempting to persuade lawmakers to postpone the sunset of the no-fault system and prolong the burden of Florida's no-fault tax. This is bad news for consumers since fraud and abuse of the no-fault system have made Florida's auto insurance rates the sixth-highest in the nation.
Special interests - who have been bilking the no-fault system - are continuing to use scare tactics about what will happen when no-fault is eliminated and are pushing for an extension of the no-fault tax. Their scare tactics are exaggerated and disingenuous.
They claim that hospitals will lose hundreds of millions and will have to close. But a majority of all accident-related care will continue to be covered through existing auto insurance coverages - including medical payments, uninsured motorist and bodily injury coverage that most drivers already carry.
They also claim that drivers will no longer be required to carry any auto insurance. While the requirement to purchase personal injury protection will be eliminated, Florida drivers will still be required to carry at least $10,000 of property damage liability coverage.
Here is the bottom line. The end of the no-fault system will hold drivers responsible for accidents they cause and discourage fraud and abuse of the no-fault system that has been burdening Floridians for too long.
Lawmakers should not waver in their efforts to drive down the cost of living in Florida and focus on delivering property-tax relief to build on the savings on auto insurance costs Floridians will start to see in October when the broken no-fault system is eliminated.
Doug Guetzloe is chairman of Ax the Tax, a statewide grassroots organization established in 1982. Ax the Tax has helped Florida taxpayers defeat more than $25 billion in proposed tax increases. Contact him at doug@axthetax.org.
www.AxTheTax.org
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