Bill Wood: How can Florida have such great roads AND lower taxes?

Leaving early (4 a.m.) for a flight to Florida on a Thursday morning, I found myself in bumper-to-bumper, stop-and-go traffic in Tracy and all the way to the San Francisco airport. Arrival in Florida during the homeward rush traffic north of Miami was just not a big deal – lots of cars all moving along smoothly. Florida roads are all in good shape, smooth and well marked. Price of gas is even a little cheaper there.

Yet Florida has no state income tax. Floridians don’t have to put up with continual demands for money to fix their roads! California has the highest tax rate (13.3 percent) in the nation. On top of that we have high taxes on gasoline. New York personal tax rate is listed at 8.82 percent and Florida, Texas and Nevada have a state tax of 0 percent. Their state leadership has to be a lot smarter than ours.

We need a real tough audit to find out where all of our tax money for roads is going. It’s not being spent on our once admirable highway system! Remember Measure L, that special voter approved initiative, only 50 percent was dedicated to highway work.

Editor’s note: Florida state roads are paid for by a combination of fuel taxes, tolls and other “user fees.” The Tax Foundation ranks Florida as the second-highest in the nation for collecting such fees; California ranks 39th. California’s per-gallon gas tax is second-highest in the nation, Florida’s the ninth. California’s income tax rate ranges from 1 percent to 13.3 percent on incomes over $1 million.

This story was originally published January 8, 2018 at 6:09 PM with the headline "Bill Wood: How can Florida have such great roads AND lower taxes?."