Commercial Bribery with Taxpayer Money

By Larry Gillis, Libertarian Party of Florida

The recent news about the tax “incentives” proposed by the City of Cape Coral for the Grove Project has raised concerns about government interference in the free market. These so-called incentives represent a blatant use of taxpayer money to encourage certain economic activities, particularly large developers, at the expense of others. In essence, the City is picking winners and losers—a dangerous precedent when it comes to responsible governance.

This practice is a classic case of “mission creep” by local governments. Municipalities are tasked with providing essential services like police, fire protection, and clean water. They are not supposed to meddle in the free market, a domain where competition and innovation should be driven by businesses, not by government handouts.

At its core, this is nothing short of commercial bribery, but with taxpayer dollars.

The Libertarian Party of Florida firmly opposes these kinds of practices. Our 2022 platform clearly states: “As long as we have taxes, equal protection of the law requires that for each type of tax, the rates should be the same and the tax base should be calculated in the same way for every individual or business. There should be no abatements, subsidies, credits, refunds, or other preferential treatments as incentives to businesses to invest or create jobs, or as a privilege to individuals or classes of individuals, such as age, race, or location. Such tax favoritism should be unconstitutional.”

These incentives are not about creating a level playing field—they are about favoritism, plain and simple. Instead of letting the market decide which businesses thrive, the City is skewing the landscape in favor of large developers, all while using your hard-earned tax dollars.

It’s time for Cape Coral, and all municipalities, to return to their proper role: providing essential services and staying out of the free market.

Larry Gillis is a former Director-at-Large of the LPF and served for a time as chair of the LPF Legislative Affairs Committee. He practiced criminal law in NH for over 30 years and was chair of the NH House Appropriations Subcommittee on Justice. He has been teaching legal studies courses for the University of Maryland Global Campus for the past 16 years, online from his home in Cape Coral.