Florida must pay up, end canker fight

It is time — actually, it’s long past time — for the state of Florida to say “uncle” and give thousands of South Florida homeowners the money they have coming in the 11-year citrus canker fight.

Yes, the state of Florida needs to pay affected citizens the $20.6 million they’re owed. This is something that should have been done years ago.

The whole fight should have been over in the spring, when the Legislature agreed on full payment to homeowners seeking compensation after their healthy trees were cut down by the state in a futile effort to halt the spread of citrus canker.

And that would have been the end of it — except Gov. Rick Scott used spurious logic to veto the compensation payout last month.

And the beat goes on. Look for more court battles and more of your tax money being spent on a fight the state has already lost. Except Scott won’t acknowledge defeat. He prefers to spend your tax money on more unnecessary court battles.

If you were in South Florida during the span of 2000 to 2006, you may remember the woeful tales coming from the heavyhanded attempt to eradicate canker. The disease, spread by wind and rain, discolors fruit and weakens trees. The state dispatched crews to go on private property and cut down any tree within 1,900 feet of a tree that had the citrus canker disease — even if those trees were healthy.

Trees were felled, whether the homeowner was home or not. There were accounts of residents coming home to find stumps where their beloved trees had been for years. There were stories of homeowners who tried to stop the crews from cutting, only to be held back by sheriff ’s deputies.

Homeowners, who at one time were insulted with the offer of a $50 Walmart gift card to pay for their butchered trees, went to court. They won a jury verdict, didn’t get paid, and appeals kept piling up.

The Legislature finally appropriated the money this year to pay affected Broward households — Palm Beach County homeowners were not involved in the settlement — but Scott vetoed the idea. He said the money couldn’t be approved because of an ongoing class-action suit in Miami-Dade, but that’s bogus. Courts have already ruled in favor of Broward homeowners. And the appeals by the state have been exhausted.

“Gov. Scott’s veto … undermines the state’s constitutional obligation to pay full compensation for the taking of private property,” court documents said.

Broward homeowners are left with a couple of options. A lawsuit was filed with the Florida Supreme Court, claiming full compensation must be given when the state takes private property for the public good. The Supreme Court hasn’t ruled yet on Scott’s veto.

Homeowners can take their case to Broward Circuit Court. Or they can hope the money they have had due for more than a decade is allocated again by the Florida Legislature in next year’s budget. Enough already. Homeowners are asking for fairness, and fair compensation. What has been going on by the Department of Agriculture, and now by Gov. Scott, are simply stalling tactics that will lead to more attorneys and more delays.

It is time for the state to stop this neverending merry-go-round. Rick Scott had no business vetoing money homeowners should receive.

If Scott runs for the U.S. Senate in 2018 as is widely expected, he better hope the affected families have short memories.

What has been going on by the Department of Agriculture, and now by Gov. Scott, are simply stalling tactics that will lead to more attorneys and more delays.