Gov. Mark Sanford and other advocates of slashing the state’s income tax often point to Florida as a model worth emulating.

Enchanted with the Sunshine State’s legendary reputation for attracting wealthy retirees, they say Florida’s lack of an income tax is a key reason for its explosive economic growth.

But a study conducted at the request of a state lawmaker by the State Board of Economic Advisors paints a different picture of the taxpayer’s paradise.

It shows Florida levies many more taxes — and often at much higher rates — than South Carolina does:

• Cigarette taxes are 34 cents per pack in Florida; they are 7 cents per pack in South Carolina.

• Local phone calls in Florida are taxed at nearly 7 percent but not at all in South Carolina.

• Home satellite dish service is taxed at more than 10 percent in Florida but not at all in South Carolina.

• Hospital visits in Florida are taxed at 1 percent for outpatient service and 1.5 percent for in-patient service but not at all in South Carolina.

Florida counties also have the flexibility to impose dozens of local sales taxes and fees. In a head-to-head comparison between tourist-rich Myrtle Beach and Miami Beach, taxes were on average 6 percent higher in Miami.

As for property taxes, a key issue for S.C. lawmakers this year, Florida taxes are on average nearly 70 percent higher than S.C. taxes on homes valued at $100,000.

Kurt Wenner, a senior analyst at the watchdog group Florida TaxWatch, says many of the additional taxes and fees are needed to provide basic state functions.

“It’s a pretty good tax state, but because there’s not an income tax, people generally understand they’ll have to pay more elsewhere,” Wenner said.

Supporters of lower income taxes in South Carolina counter that Florida tourists shoulder more of the tax burden than tourists do here.

“Some taxes are tied directly to economic development, and others aren’t,” said Sanford spokesman Will Folks. “The question is, are our taxes helping or hindering economic development?”

According to the nonprofit Tax Foundation, both South Carolina’s and Florida’s state and local tax burdens rank among the 10 lowest in the nation.

State economists are working on another study, this one comparing South Carolina’s tax climate to North Carolina’s and Georgia’s.

Clemson University economist Holley Ulbrich says she suspects South Carolina will compare favorably.

“There’s an ideological hatred for taxes that’s fairly widespread, but our taxes are actually pretty low,” she said.

The state Senate likely will try to lower them by approving a measure to cut income taxes on small businesses, a scaled-down version of Sanford’s proposal to cut the tax for anyone earning more than $12,060 in taxable income.

Sanford argues the Senate bill doesn’t go far enough because it won’t help South Carolina compete with Florida in the race to draw retirees with disposable incomes.

But Pat Mason, co-founder of the Center for Carolina Living, says the thousands of retirees moving to the state each year are more interested in good restaurants and nice beaches than lower income taxes.

Lower “taxes don’t appear to be the leading edge or a key thing that attracts retirees,” said Mason, himself a transplant to the state.

South Carolina’s relatively undeveloped real estate makes it better positioned to attract future retirees, said Mason, whose nonpartisan research group tracks migration into the state.

“Tax policy should really be carefully studied,” he said. “When demand is up, why in the world would you want to lower the price?”

Reach Stensland at (803) 771-8358 or jstensland@thestate.com.