The Palm Beach Post from West Palm Beach, Florida • Page 90

SERVING THE SOUTH COUNTY VOL. LXXV NO. 25 WEST PALM 3EACH, FLORIDA i 90 PAGES 25 CENTS Pyle Kennedy Pulitier FRIDAY, MARCH 18, 1983 Copyr.ghtc 1983 The Pod Awards The Pnf" 11 5 Officials: State Tax Cut Amendment 'Frightening Editorial, A18 By Brian E. Crowley Tallahassoo Buroau TALLAHASSEE "Irresponsible," "horrible" and "devastating" were the shocked reactions of state and local officials who were told yesterday that Florida voters are going to be asked to approve a constitutional amendment to reduce taxes to 1980 levels. "If this passes there will be catastrophic repercussions to all phases of education and government," said Senate Appropriations Chairman Harry Johnston (D-West Palm Beach).

"Responsible government spending is determined by meeting the people's needs not by an arbitrary or inflexible formula, which is insensitive to those needs," Gov. Bob Graham said. Palm Beach County Schools Supt. Tom Mills called the proposal "a disaster," saying cutbacks would force school administrators to "gut the system." "This could have a devastating impact on everything we've been trying to do for the past couple of years to improve Florida's education, transportation and other services," said Tom Herndon, Graham's planning and budget director. "This amendment will force serious deficiencies at all levels of government," said House Appropriations Committee Chairman Herb Morgan (D-Tallahassee).

"We are going to have sewage on the floors." What they were all worried about was the successful effort of a small group of tax-reduction advocates, who have managed during the past year to collect 313,095 petitions 14,352 more than needed to place an amendment on the November 1984 ballot that would: Force all state and local governments, as well as school boards, to reduce their taxes to fiscal 1980-81 levels. Remove the recent $700 million-per-year sales tax increase, as well as the $250-per-year gas tax increase. Limit property tax increases to a maximum of 5 percent per year or the equivalent of two-thirds of the year's inflation rate, whichever is less. Limit all other tax increases to no more than two-thirds of the annual inflation rate. Require a referendum to exceed tax limits.

Voters would have to approve the purpose of the proposed increase and the amount to spend. Further, the increase would be limited to no more than two years. Harry Wilson, a retired Burger King salesman from Coral Gables, is one of the leaders of the tax cap movement in Florida. He said yesterday that he expects government leaders to fight the proposed amendment and to use scare tactics to try to defeat it. "I imagine from Tallahassee to Key West, you're going to hear howls of anguish about this thing," he said.

"I'm sure they'll have us in court every time we turn around trying to stop the amendment. "People are going to have to bite the bullet. The time has come to weed out the deadwood Turn to TAXES, A8 House Panel Votes To Gut Defense Funds ffi Sen. Howard Baker jobless entitled to benefits Senate Ends Stalemate On Jobs Bill Staff Photo by Stovo crowioy manager Joe Torre a pleasant problem. Harper had three hits, including a home run, to raise his exhibition average to .410.

Story, Dl WASHINGTON (AP) The House Budget Committee voted yesterday to cut President Reagan's defense buildup by more than half and then approved 20-11 an alternative Democratic budget blueprint for 1984. The budget, entitled "A Democratic Plan for Economic Recovery" was approved in a series of straight party-line votes in which Republicans failed in efforts to change it. The action marked the first time since Reagan's election that House Democrats have unified behind an alternative to Reaganomics. The president's budget proposal calls for spending $848.5 billion in fiscal 1984 starting next October. The committee set a 4 percent ceiling for growth in military spending after inflation, compared to the 10 percent figure recommended by the president.

Overall, the panel set spending for fiscal 1984 at $863.5 billion and included $30 billion more in tax revenues than Reagan recommended. The $30 billion could come from elimination of this year's 10 percent tax cut due, with withholding, to take effect on July 1, or from limiting the reduction to somewhere between $400 and $700 per taxpayer. Republicans on the committee proposed more than a dozen amendments to reduce spending on domestic programs in the Democratic plan, or block either tax increases or tampering with the July tax cut. Most failed on a straight 20-11 party-line vote. Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger has handed the armed services a nearly $2 trillion military buildup plan for 1985-1989 stripped of language which last year brought accusations the Reagan administration was preparing for "protracted" nuclear war.

A secret 106-page "defense guidance" document omits the term "protracted" and another word, "prevail," which gave the impression last year that the administration was bent on amassing forces to fight and win a future war rather than on seeking to deter war. "U.S. wartime strategy is to employ military force to achieve political objectives and secure early war termination on terms favorable to the United States and its allies while limiting the scope of the conflict as much as possible," the document says in laying out the administration's broad policy. Otherwise, the latest strategy document, which every defense secretary issues annually to guide the armed services in their long-range thinking, contains no dramatic initiatives. The guidance document contem-Turn to DEFENSE, A9 IN SPORTS While Houston third baseman Phil Garner (right) and shortstop Bert Pena were fighting the swirling winds yesterday at Municipal Stadium, Atlanta outfielder Terry Harper continued his hot hitting, giving Ohio U.

51 Illinois State 49 Maryland 52 UT-Chattanooga 51 Washington St. 62 Weber St. 52 W. Virginia 50 La Salle 67 Robert Morris 53 James Madison 57 VCU76 Purdue 55 Marine Chief Protests Israeli Actions Post Wirt Services WASHINGTON The Senate, ending more than a week of bitter debate, passed 82-16 yesterday a $5.1 billion recession relief package after peeling off an amendment to repeal the withholding tax on interest income. Final passage came after backers of the withholding repeal compromised with Senate leaders and released their grip on the bill.

In exchange, the Senate unanimously voted to give them a chance to pursue their tax amendment in full debate beginning April 15. The deal pleased both sides, removing the barrier that has stalled Senate passage of the bill since March 7. Aside from its expenditure of more than $5 billion for jobs and other programs for the needy, the measure authorizes an additional $5 billion in loan money needed by many states to keep paying unemployment checks. And according to Employment and Training Administration figures, states may see an increase in first-time claims for such benefits. In the first week of March, 501,000 Americans filed applications for basic state benefits compared to 460,000 in the previous week.

Reagan administration officials said more than half the states would Turn to JOBS, A8 weekend." A Marine spokesman said a patrol twice got into a "verbal exchange" with Israelis who had barred it from passing checkpoints. The patrol went around the checkpoints, the spokesman said. Meanwhile, an Italian soldier and two Lebanese were reported wounded early yesterday in one of two gunfire exchanges on the third day of attacks on the multinational peacekeeping force in Beirut. On the diplomatic front, the U.S., in an attempt to make some progress in the negotiations for withdrawal of Israeli troops from Lebanon, handed Israeli Foreign Minister Yitzhak Shamir a detailed plan to secure the Israeli-Lebanese Post Wirt Sorvicts WASHINGTON The commandant of the Marine Corps has complained to Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger that Israeli forces in Lebanon have persistently "harassed, endangered and degraded" American Marines and soldiers there. Gen.

Robert H. Barrow asserted that Israeli forces "persist in creating serious incidents." He contended that the incidents had been "timed, orchestrated and executed for obtuse Israeli political purposes." His comment was in a letter to Weinberger that the Pentagon made available yesterday. Weinberger received the letter Monday. Israeli spokesmen disavowed the complaint and blamed the United States for not establishing a liaison between the Marines and the Israeli forces. Pentagon officials, in support of Barrow's complaint, disclosed previously confidential details of incidents in which American officers were said to have been fired on, barred at gunpoint from routine patrols and insulted by Israelis.

The Israeli spokesman said Barrow's assertion that the incidents were politically motivated or orchestrated was "absurd" and contended that Israeli forces had been trying to avoid problems. Yesterday, as he arrived at Andrews Air Force Base returning from a meeting in Florida, Weinberger said he would let Barrow's letter speak for itself and that the State Department had "transmitted the letter to the Israeli government." In his letter, dated March 14, Barrow said, "I must formally register my deep concern over the two unprovoked incidents in Beirut of this past nrMCUD Lf Tornadoes Strike South Florida; Fort Lauderdale Area Hit Hardest -wA ivu i Post Staff and Wirt Reports Tornadoes touched down in Palm Beach, Martin, Broward and Collier counties yesterday, injuring a driver on Indiantown Road and extensively damaging homes west of Fort Lauderdale. The National Weather Service said the morning twisters were triggered by an intense low pressure system in the Gulf of Mexico. touched the ground," he said. "There was no big roar like people say when a tornado hits." About 7:15 a.m., a tornado snatched the roof from a Shop-N-Go convenience store in the city of Golden Gate, near Naples, and blew a large aluminum awning two blocks, breaking power poles and downing power lines.

A half-hour later, two cars were overturned and three houses and a service station were damaged in the Ochopee area of eastern Collier County, in Partly Cloudy IRISH EYES -Some were smiling, some were not as thousands watched the St. Patrick's Day parade in New York which was overshadowed by controversy over its grand marshal. Story, All InsideToday FAREWELL CIVILIZATION Canoeing on the Withlacoochee River near Tampa is a trip back to an earlier Florida when the rivers were the highways and the wilderness was abundant. Story, Bl Amusements B4-7 Business Dll Classified Ads C5-20 Comics B16 Datebook B2 Editorials A18 Fran Hathaway i CI Steve Hummer Dl Letters A18 Listening Post A19 Obituaries D7, 8 Stocks D12-17 Theaters B9 TV Listings B17 aaaaaaaaiiaamcaaiaaaaaaaaaaaiaaBU About 8:20 a.m., a tornado touched down about a mile north of Indiantown Road on the Beeline Highway. Florida Highway Patrol Trooper Philip Stuart said it traveled a quarter-mile path, throwing a car driven by Shirley McCray, 42, of Indiantown, off the road.

"It literally dragged her off the road. The vehicle was pushed sideways onto the shoulder of the road, tipped sideways and rolled over twice before coming to rest inverted in 10 or 12 inches of water," Stuart said. Ms. McCray was admitted to Palm Beach-Martin County Medical Center in Jupiter and treated for lacerations and bruises, Stuart said. She was in good condition late yesterday.

A second twister was sighted in Stuart by Sam Fountain, a foreman at Florida Cuttings and Foliage who warned about 12 workers to run for shelter. The twister caused minor damage as it passed through the nursery and the neighborhood. "I was out on the carport and all of a sudden the wind picked up and the rain went crazy. The rain was going in circles," said Ralph Timmerman, 33, of Port Salerno, who was at his parents' home at 813 E. 15th St.

"Tree limbs broke and the fence blew over, but I didn't actually see a funnel cloud. I don't think it actually the Everglades, said Miami meteorologist Paul Hebert. He said the most serious damage was in the city of Sunrise, in Broward County west of Fort Lauderdale, where officials "reported extensive damage to homes and a recreation center." Twisters also roared through the northern part of Broward County, demolishing at least one house and shattering windows in hundreds of other homes. In the Margate area, a tractor-trailer was turned over at a Florida's Turnpike service plaza and a tree fell on a car, pinning people inside, Hebert said. A tornado ripped part of the roof from a Zayre department store in Lighthouse Point, blew out windows in a nearby public library and overturned a supermarket delivery truck.

Hebert said a Farm Store was hit as well, resulting in several minor injuries. Marble-size hail was reported during heavy rain in the downtown Miami area about 9:30 a.m. The heaviest rain reported in the state was in Taver-nier in the Florida Keys, where 2.37 inches fell in the 24-hour period ending at 8 a.m. The National Weather Service said an average of about an inch of rain fell over South Florida. A AVV A ITTTl HT 11 I IM.

II ij-lWlt Tho Associated Prou New York Mayor Ed Koch tests his skill on bagpipes.