One of the state's largest business groups opened up a new front in the great Florida tax revolt Tuesday when it launched a petition drive to put a local-government spending cap on the 2010 ballot.

The National Federation of Independent Business announced that it was spearheading a drive with anti-tax groups to pass a constitutional amendment that would limit local-government revenue growth to population and inflation growth.

"I really believe that government spending should be restrained," said Mike Fraser, an NFIB member and owner of the Tallahassee Camera Center.

When taxes go up, Fraser said he has to choose between cutting jobs or raising prices.

"Either I have to pass it along to my customers, which I can't really do in these hard economic times, or I have to cut my expenses," he said. "When our taxes go up, we put less money back into the economy."

The amendment would essentially cap local government revenue growth to about 5 percent a year with exceptions for emergencies and natural disasters. Any increases in revenue would have to be held over and counted as revenue for the next year.

Local school taxes would be excluded and counties and cities would have to hold local elections if they wanted to exceed the cap.

NFIB began researching the campaign months ago after it was clear that hard spending caps would not come from the Taxation and Budget Reform Commission.

Taxpayer revolt groups also were not satisfied with the passage of Amendment 1 in January. The measure was sold as a $9 billion property tax relief measure and strongly supported by Gov. Charlie Crist.

Crist famously promised that property taxes would "drop like a rock," but citizens have complained about not getting much relief. Some local governments have raised fees or cut police and fire budgets to make up for the lost revenue.

"The only thing that's dropped like a rock is our ability to pay for ever-increasing government spending," said Kimberly Abelon of Jacksonville, an organizer for Citizens for Prosperity who is also active in the Republican Party. "I have to live within my means. Why shouldn't government?"

Cragin Mosteller, a spokeswoman for the Florida Association of Counties, said similar measures, including one known as the Taxpayer Bill of Rights, have failed or been disastrous in other states.

Mosteller said the measure would force local government to cut essential services like fire and police to dangerous levels. The formula also would allow local taxes to rise when the cost of living was increasing, hurting taxpayers more.

"All of the evidence just points to the devastating impact this would have on the economy," Mosteller said. "Clearly, we have big issues with this."

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