Bureaucrats to Account

You don't have to tell Gulf Coast entrepreneurs that delays by local government bureaucrats cost them time and money.

But a new Naples-based free-enterprise research organization called Foundation for Government Accountability recently measured the impact on government of a one-week bureaucratic delay in the creation of startup business in Florida.

Their conclusion: A one-week delay of a startup in Florida by government bureaucrats costs the state nearly $10 million in unemployment benefits and lost sales tax revenue. The cost of that delay to county government is $1.74 million and $670,000 to municipal government in lost property taxes and fees.