TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Sept. 24, 2009 – Florida remains among the top 10 states in the nation when it comes to “business friendly” taxes, but one leading lawmaker says the high ranking means little if the Sunshine State doesn’t do a better job attracting new companies.

Florida ranked 5th in the 2010 State Business Tax Climate report put out this week by the Washington D.C.-based Tax Foundation. Florida has had the best ranking among Southern states for several years, based largely on a state constitution that prohibits an income tax.

The conservative-leaning Tax Foundation also looked at property taxes, unemployment taxes, corporate income taxes and sales taxes. Even though they included Florida’s now higher cigarette tax in overall sales taxes, it did not change the overall ranking.

Natasha Altamirano, a spokeswoman for the foundation, stressed that the rankings don’t reflect how much money the taxes raise, but how broad and competitive the structure is compared to other states. In fact, the report faults Florida for some of the economic incentives is uses to attract businesses, pointing to the decision by Capital One to close a Tampa-area facility in 2004 even though it received state tax breaks. According to the report, it’s more effective approach to improve business taxes for the long term.

State Sen. Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, and chairman of a Senate select committee on Florida’s economy, isn’t impressed much by the high ranking, which comes at a time when the state has nearly 1 million people out of work.

“I’m less interested in whether we are 5 or 7 in the ranking of a Washington organization,’’ said Gaetz. “I’m more concerned with what we are doing to bring jobs to Florida and keeping jobs in Florida.’’

The state’s stubbornly high unemployment rate could prompt changes to Florida’s ongoing economic development programs. The Senate Commerce committee is already working on a review of the state’s Qualified Target Tax Industry (QTI) tax refund program, which sunsets on June 30, 2010, unless lawmakers reenact the program. First started in 1994, the program is supposed to target high-wage businesses that either expand existing operations or relocate to Florida.

Gaetz said the select committee is analyzing the nation’s top 10 job-creation states to see if they have programs that Florida should enact. He sees a “significant gap” between those states and Florida, and notes that most of Florida’s economic development programs were designed before the state became a boom state.

“In my view, we have to look hard at our tax policy and other economic policies to make sure we are relevant,’’ said Gaetz, who wants his select committee to come up with a “Jobs for Florida” package in time for the 2010 session.

While the Tax Foundation ranked Florida fifth overall on business tax issues, it ranked the state first on individual income taxes, 15th on corporate income taxes, 32nd on sales taxes, third on unemployment insurance taxes and 22nd in the nation on property taxes.

Source: News Service of Florida, Gary Fineout.