dave8721

Nope. They are all donor counties. All of Florida's big counties are. Orange County is the biggest donor county but the tampa area is as well. Florida's tax system redistrubutes money from the cities to the rural areas.

Chicago and Springfield are closer together than Miami and Orlando. Carson and LV are much closer together than Miami and Tally as well.

I dont view it as anything personal against the people up north its just that people generally don't like being governed by an institution that is like 500 MILES AWAY!! (Can anyone think of any other major city that is farther away from its State capital? Only San Diego comes to mind). Maybe if the capital was moved to Orlando or something South Floridians might feel a little more connected to the state they inhabit.

How do you figure considering all 3 counties are "donor counties" which pay more to the state in taxes than they get back?

The best way would be not just those 3 counties but Monroe (the Keys) and Martin and St.Lucie counties as well and the SW Coast too. Draw a line from the Lee County northern border west to Palm Beach County then north to St.Lucie County (include the Everglades). That would give a state of 7-8 million or so in a pretty small area and would allow a state run transit system that would actually be functional (like how the Boston area subway is run by the Massachuesetts Transit Agency). Taxes would probably be a little higher but at least they would all stay local. A downside would be that South Florida residents would not longer get "in-state" tuition at UF or FSU, or Florida resident discounts at Disney.