Florida has a constitutional amendment currently in the pipeline entitled Floridians Against Inequities in Rates (FAIR), which would remove all sales tax exemptions, including architectural services, by 2007. Floridians have a track record of approving constitutional amendments: 76 percent of proposed amendments since 1970, to be exact. The Florida Senate decided that the constitutional amendments had gone too far and in the 2004 legislative session approved three resolutions that would cumulatively have made it harder to amend the state Constitution. The three resolutions died in the House, but House leadership intends to make it a priority next session. But consideration of the measures next session may be too late for the sales tax exemptions. If the FAIR initiative is able to collect the required amount of signatures and is approved by the Florida Supreme Court, the amendment will appear on the ballot in November.

Comment: AIA Florida intends to educate its members on the FAIR amendment and support coalitions opposing anything that would lead to new taxes on architectural services. Passage of the FAIR amendment via ballot proposal could lead to additional states exploring passage of service tax expansion through ballot referenda. For more information contact the AIA Government Advocacy Team at govaffs@aia.org or 202-626-7507 or contact AIA Florida EVP Vicki Long, CAE, at vlong@aiafla.org or 850-222-7590.