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| 01-15-2010
One week after Florida citrus growers approved tripling an existing state tax for citrus-related research, industry leaders will resume an effort to create a new federal research tax.
And while Florida citrus leaders previously supported an immediate referendum before levying a new federal tax, they're now considering an alternative that would allow a penny-per-box tax on growers for up to three years before a vote.
The new federal tax would be levied on all commercial citrus produced in the U.S. and, importantly for Florida growers, on citrus imports from other countries, notably orange juice from Brazil. Each penny of the federal tax would raise about $3.4 million.
Ken Keck, executive director of the Florida Department of Citrus in Lakeland, said Wednesday he hopes to send U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack a final proposal for creation of the new tax and the governing board to administer it by March.
U.S. Department of Agriculture officials have indicated it would take about 12 months to set up the new tax system without an immediate referendum and 18 months with a vote.
Several issues in that proposal have yet to be determined in ongoing talks with California, Arizona and Texas, the next three largest citrus-producing states, Keck said. Those include the governing board composition, the referendum question and limits on how the money could be spent.
Keck and other citrus leaders from the other states have been discussing the federal tax for more than a year. Keck and the Florida Citrus Commission agreed to suspend the effort because it could hamper a successful vote on increasing a state research tax.
Read the original article from The Ledger.