E xtending the 20 percent tax on downtown Miami parking charges is a good idea. That's true today, and we believe it will be true in the future, even if a part of that surtax is earmarked to help build a publicly owned baseball stadium on the Miami River.
Nobody likes taxes.
The parking surtax helps achieve that objective. As this is written, debate rages in the Legislature over using the bulk of that surtax to help finance a new stadium where the Florida Marlins would play. Currently the surtax expires in 2005, having been put in place by a previous Legislature to help bail the city out of a financial crisis. That share could increase dramatically to make up for the Senate's refusal to allow a sales-tax rebate on stadium concession sales to also help build it. Every workday 110,000 people commute to offices and jobs downtown from homes in suburban communities.