Dear Mr. Mayo,

The working stiffs of Fort Lauderdale work in the marine industry. They tend to be middle class people, and 40 percent of them have lost their marine jobs in the past two years. Talk to the parents of the kids in your daughter's school and find out where they work. I bet some are marine industry working stiffs like me. I would not have a job if it was not for the weathly enjoying their money. Come to think of it, neither would you. Who do you think owns newspapers? Wealthy people.

Now for the numbers. There was only $1.5 million of this sales tax collected last year on boats over $300,000. Capped at $18,000, there would only have to be 77 more boats paying this tax before it becomes a positive for Florida. That means just one or two of the 125 yachts that are bought/sold each week in Florida would have to decide to stay here and pay this tax instead of running to the Carolinas to avoid it. That's not a stretch by any imagination. I know one yacht captain who is ready to pay this tax today. He's never paid it before.

Mr. Mayo, if you would like to meet some of the working stiffs you so honorably protect, I would happily show you around.

TAX PAID! I support this bill.

David Reed
The Triton

This is a subject I tend to disagree with to some degree. Right now this tax is not keeping boats from doing the work, its the economy, and although boats have to leave for set amounts of time, they still come for the times to do the work, if they are going to do it. I am sick of subsidizing the rich, you and I buy boats, cars or whatever, we have to pay the taxes, but the people who can afford it , whine about it, so they can buy more crap. Cap it at $18,000, boy are you generous! Course they would jump at the thought, you probably just saved them three hundred thousand, while we are at it, lets build some dockage for them and let them have it for free, just like the stadiums and such, and then we will put it to the poor saps that bought the bass boat that had to pay full taxes. 

You bring up some interesting points, but I must disagree. Unlike stadiums, which might be built with taxpayer money yet leave the working stiff to pay for tickets to enjoy it, this sales tax cap collects money that might not otherwise be collected. Once that tax is paid, owners and their vessels (and their crews and their vendors) can stay in Florida, filling marinas, visiting restaurants, using our beaches, and enjoying all the great cruising that is just within hours of our shores.

And the working stiff gets his job back. Stadiums don't offer that perk.

I know it seems like Florida taxpayers are subsidizing the rich, but our entire yachting industry is based on people who enjoy their money. Without them spending it on boats and yachts, thousands of our neighbors have been put out of work.

You are right that it's the economy putting a dent in repair and shipyard work. But don't you think that a yacht that feels more comfortable homeporting in Florida will stay here to use our shipyards instead of heading out of state? Is Florida's economy better off with a boat based in the Bahamas that just comes here occasionally for work, or if it's based here?

We have a great area in Florida for long-term boating and we should encourage it. This is one step.

Great points, Mr. Reed. 

This cap in sales tax is a break wealthy yacht owners would legally get anywhere else they register their boat.

Many people in this industry have worked very hard to make Ft Lauderdale the yachting mecca it has become.  I don't understand why Florida still charges full sales tax on yachts when there are places vying to be like our town using the very tactic of a cap on yacht sales tax to bring boats and commerce into thier town.

There should not be a discussion of where to register a boat sold here.  Unfortunately, it happens a lot.  I see very few boats with a Florida town displayed on their stern.  Who wouldn't avoid a 6% sales tax on a million dollar boat?  They leave to register in the Caymans or BVIs, then come back casually after they've refitted and outfitted their yacht elsewhere.  Yachts sold here should stay here, fuel commerce here, encourage market competition here, and most importantly -- maintain and create jobs here. 

I can not think of a better time to pass this legislation than in a recessive period in our economy.

Well I do not know the rules for all US States Sales tax agreements, as I guess you do, so please enlighten me on which States cap sales taxes on items? I do know that New Hampshire does not have any sales taxes, yet I have not seen a great deal of Yachts registering there. The talk is of going to Georgia, which first off does not have the facilities to handle all of the yachts and people do not actually want to boat there anywhere near the amount of staying in Florida. If you look at fuel prices and what it costs to go there and back every year to do work, where is the savings. Registering in Florida is not a guarantee that they will do work here. The fact that some wealthy owners are willing to do anything to save a buck, is a sure sign that this will not guarantee anything. A lot of them register foreign for crewing purposes also, so should we also change the laws to allow foreigners to work legally on these yachts, since our only desire seems to be to give the wealthy anything they want. The thing is, we tax them at the same rate as the guy buying the $100,000 boat, which is how it should be. Since we seem to want to save them money though, maybe we should cap the amount of commissions on all boats that are sold, lets say at ....$18,000 dollars, I guarantee that a lot more boats will be sold in this state, just go down the dock and ask an owner if he would like that next time, thats a big savings, lets see 10% on a 6 million dollar boat or $18,000 cap, yup, I bet they will jump at it!