Central Florida, once an inexpensive to place to live, has seen a dramatic drop in housing affordability. Fortunately in 1992, a bipartisan bill was passed in the Florida Legislature: Its purpose was to divert revenue from taxes on Florida legal documents such as real estate titles, placing it into a trust fund for the sole purpose of financing affordable housing.
It seems, however, that Florida politicians have a fundamental misunderstanding of the term ‘trust.’ Since 2003 the legislature has been looting the trust fund for whatever purposes suit its fancy â balancing the budget, for example.
Trusts tend to have a legal status that criminalize the misappropriation of trust funds. Ask any lawyer who has used money s/he controls in trust: “What happens when you ‘borrow’ trust fund money, just for a moment of course, to pay an inconveniently large personal bill?” (Asking that question in person may require visiting a prison).
Although the Florida legislature is no doubt capable of dissolving the trust and channelling tax funds elsewhere, they seem to have been happy to cruise along for 15 years acting, if not illegally, then certainly immorally. Not to mention effectively stealing funds that are of critical importance in a housing crisis.
For more on the sorry state of housing affordability in Central Florida, together with initiatives to force the Legislature to behave, read more in the Orlando Sentinal:Â Chipping away at Central Florida’s housing needs isn’t enough
