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Why is it that politicians are so adept at telling other politicians what to do, yet they rarely follow their own advice?

A case in point is the Florida Legislature and its upcoming special session on property taxes. The basic idea is to bring about a reduction in property taxes that support local governments.

The Legislature is cutting taxes — taxes that other politicians spend to do work the state is not responsible for.

That would be like the U.S. Congress decreeing that Florida must reduce its sales tax. It’s easy to get behind a tax cut, especially if someone else will have to cope with it.

Notice the Florida Legislature isn’t talking about cutting the sales tax. The budget passed by the Legislature is nearly $1 billion more than last year’s. While figuring out ways to force local politicians to spend less on the things they do, representatives in Tallahassee managed to spend more on the things they do.

Let’s face it, government is a necessary evil. It takes a certain amount of money for any government to do the things it has to do. Tallahassee can tell local governments they need to tighten their belts, but do state legislators know the situations of each entity to which they’re issuing the mandate?

Proponents of a statewide property tax rollback will note that there is always waste that can be cut. It is no doubt true that governments waste money, but waste is often in the eyes of the beholder.

Take Collier County’s plan to extend Vanderbilt Beach Road to the east, for example. Critics cite the potential difficulty obtaining the needed permits and the astronomical cost estimates as reasons why the project should be dropped. They see tens of millions of dollars in government waste in the project.

But regardless of one’s opinion of the road, it is certain that thousands of lots in Golden Gate Estates are sitting ready for development. Eventually, people are going to build homes on those lots. So whether it’s Vanderbilt Beach Road or elsewhere, the county is going to have to build a better road network. The “waste” saved by aborting the Vanderbilt Beach Road project would have to be spent elsewhere for similar purposes.

The most effective way for governments to cut taxes is to spend less. Representatives at every level of government should be looking for ways to do the necessary work for the least amount of money. Then they should set the tax rate just high enough to raise that amount of money. Those who don’t should be voted out of office and replaced by someone who will.

Elected leaders at each level of government should be best able to judge what is needed at that level.

It’s good public relations to talk about cutting taxes. State politicians can bask in their status as champions of the people. Rest assured that “cut taxes” will appear universally on the next round of campaign brochures.

But legislators would be more effective if they focused their efforts on cutting waste and gaining efficiency within the state budget, which they control and should be most knowledgeable about.

Leave it to local leaders to set local spending. If we don’t like the job they’re doing, we can get rid of them.

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E-mail Brent Batten at bebatten@naplesnews.com