* For a online PowerPoint Slide Show on the Joint Tax Reform Visit
Following key committee votes Wednesday, lawmakers are poised to pass a sweeping $31.6 billion property tax reform package today.
Budget committees in both chambers on Wednesday passed a trio of bills to roll back rates and set up a new property tax structure.
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Both chambers could conclude their work as early as today as they take up measures that would roll back tax rates to 2006 levels and cap them at the same level as personal income growth. That proposal passed with only a single dissenting vote in committees Wednesday. More controversial, the members must decide whether to ask voters as early as January to amend the state constitution to eliminate a popular property tax cap for most homesteaders in exchange for higher homestead exemptions. That measure passed committees on party line votes.
The amendment calls for the elimination of Save Our Homes for about 75 percent of homesteaders. They would receive higher homestead exemptions of up to $195,000 for a $500,000 home.
A potential deal breaker is an estimated cut to local school revenues. That showdown is expected to take place in the Senate, where Republicans hold a slimmer majority.
Since the bills were made public Monday, Democrats have railed against the constitutional proposal, which they say make deep cuts in local governments, including a more than $7 billion cut in local property tax revenue for schools over the next five years.
"Florida is already near the bottom in per-capita student spending," said Sen. Dave Aronberg D-Greenacres. "I didn't get elected to come up here and drop us down to the 50th."
Local government officials said they support tax relief, but the constitutional amendment would take such a big bite out of their coffers that they would have to cut vital services and lay off employees, including police and firefighters.
They also said the amendment, which would cut taxes by $16 billion over five years, doesn't help taxpayers who need it the most — businesses, owners of second homes and renters — and suggested the new tax breaks for homeowners would eventually evaporate.
"Short-term gain, long-term pain," said Rep. Jack Seiler, D-Wilton Manors.
Republicans led by House Speaker Marco Rubio acknowledged the local tax cut, but said lawmakers will be required to pick up the slack.
"All this does is says you'll have $1.5 billion less in property taxes," Rubio said. "It puts pressure on the Legislature to come up with the $1.5 billion to hold them harmless. We're going to ask state government to do what we've asked local governments to do."
If legislators want voters to address the issue during the presidential primary on Jan. 29, they'll need a separate vote of at least 30 members because it takes a higher threshold to add an amendment for a special election. Otherwise, the vote would take place during the 2008 general election.
Sen. Mike Haridopolos, R-Indialantic and chairman of the Senate Finance and Tax Committee, said he's confident the Senate has the votes to send the issue to members in November, but said Democrats may succeed in keeping the issue off the Jan. 29 ballot.
"If we have to wait till November, the people will still get the right to vote," Haridopolos said. "It would, however, postpone implementation of the homestead exemption, which is unfortunate."
On Wednesday, Port St. Lucie Vice Mayor Jack Kelly told a House committee that not enough time has been spent to analyze the implications for bonds and other fiscal responsibilities approved by an overwhelming majority of local taxpayers.
"Why do we need to do this so quickly?" Kelly asked members of the House Policy and Budget Council. "Why couldn't we come back next year and spend more than 10 days to, I hate to use these words, shove it down our throats?"
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6-14-2007 - These tax-cut proposals are non-sense. Any Florida Resident who has owned a home more than 5 years will get no relief at all, but is nevertheless expected to carry the burden of the tax cuts for the benefit of the new growth and population surge over the past 5 years. Every thing our current group of politicians does, is to protect the pockets of special business interests and their own jobs. What a scam and now we are going to lose our tax cap when we move too? This isn't a tax cut, it's an outright setup for even higher escalating property taxes in just a few years. First our Florida politicians (from both sides) rigged things so the voters can no longer amend the constitution with a simple 50 percent majority so they could then thumb their noses at us when we need real tax relief. Well, one thing hasn't changed, they still need a simple majority to keep their jobs and it's time all voters start going to the polls with one objective which is to simply vote against every single politician now in office, regardless of party affiliation. We will get our tax relief then! We've got to stop re-electing politicians and that should be every voters number one priority at the polls until a new group of politicians learns to serve the public interest. It will work. Vote them all out of office!
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