It may not sound like a lot to cut Florida’s business rent tax from 6 percent to 5.8 percent, but after years of calling for the elimination of the levy, lawmakers home from legislative session say that education shouldn’t be ignored. “It’s a lot in the sense that we finally got something started,” says state Rep. Jim Boyd, R-Bradenton. “My goal next year is for us to continue whittling away at that.”

Florida today stands as the only state in the union to charge a tax on commercial leases, something conservative watchdog groups say makes the Sunshine State less competitive in terms of commerce. Florida businesses paid $1.7 billion in business rent taxes last year. “It is a tax on a tax and should be reduced or removed over time,” says Ian Black, a commercial real estate agent and owner of Ian Black Real Estate.

Gov. Rick Scott this year called for a 25-percent reduction in the tax, and Boyd says he has wanted to slash the tax for years. While the actual cut amounted to a little more than a 3-percent reduction, Boyd, now the House Ways and Means committee chairman, says this is the first time in seven regular sessions during which he has served when a cut in the tax has made the final budget.

The rent tax was among the top priorities for fiscal conservatives entering the session this year. “The business rent tax places a disproportionate burden on small businesses and startups that do not have the capital to purchase bigger office space, hire new employees or expand to other locations,” wrote Florida TaxWatch chairman-elect Pat Neal in a letter to SRQ. “All of this creates a chilling effect on many of Florida’s more than two million small businesses.”

The rent tax was part of $90.7 million in tax cuts included in the $82.4 billion passed by lawmakers this year.