Property taxes back in spotlight

If you haven't had enough of the property tax debate, then the place to be today is 37 Senate Office Building.

Beginning at 1 p.m., a Taxation and Budget Reform Commission panel will take up numerous proposals including one by Barney Barnett to cap local and state revenue and Gwen Margolis' idea to create a one-time homestead exemption for out-of-state residents. Another is Carlos Lacasa's sales tax swap.

Unfinished business will spill over to a meeting Tuesday.

Comments

Ummmmm… INSURANCE!

Just a friendly reminder from those of us who do subscribe to your little diversion… those of us who will be voting every one of you lying, self-serving, industry puppets out of office come Election Day.

I say again… INSURANCE!

... make that DO NOT subscribe...!

Out dated tax structure, basically I see a group of rich people saying I want my money. I don't care about the well being of the state and the less fortunate.

I can send my kids to private school, pay for healthcare, and you know the Benz in the driveway is nice.

uh, this post is about the Taxation and Budget Commission. The "diversion" is a requirement of the constitution. You need to get back on your meds 11:06.

Wide right, dipstick... errr... 11:11.

Homestead exemption for out of state residents? How about doing something for your constituents? Or have you run out of droopy pants and $1 strip club fees to discuss?

11:09, rather than having the government shake down the "rich" people for you, why don't you just go to their house and demand that they give you money? Why don't you go to their places of business and hold out your hand? Why not take them your bills and tell them to pay them for you?

You want people who have worked hard to give what they have earned to you. Here is a crazy idea: Why don't you go earn something yourself?

[Tom]

This is a good start!

"multibillion dollar property tax cut plan that would let homeowners and businesses exempt 25 percent of the value of their property from taxes in exchange for a penny increase in the six-cent state sales tax.
Lacasa, a Miami attorney, former state legislator and member of the commission, believes it may be the best chance for significant reform the group will get to put on the November ballot"

I think the best chance for significant property tax reform will lie in the courts in the very near future. Passage of amendment one has sealed that fate !

I guess because of the reduction in the capitol press corps, there are no juicy stories to report, so they are stuck covering this meeting.

How about abolishing state government entirely and all state taxes? Why do we need a state government? We need local government for services and a federal government for protection. State government is irrelevant.

Tom, and every other person who fails to understand the real problem…

“… the best chance for significant property tax reform…”

… lay in the hands of your local elected officials, NOT THE LEGISLATURE OR OUR CONSTITUTION!

Geeeezzz, no wonder people buy $300 basketball shoes… because you actually believe you’ll play as good as Jordan if you do… just like the commercial tells you.

[doo-doo]

the same old story....TAXES!! we'll still be trying to get them lowered and complaining about them 20 years from now. this is one of the main reasons i voted no on amendment 1!

11:26 am - actually, it has been in the hands of the people and clearly they do not know what to do. Thus, the creation of SOH and all its problems and A1. After all, how many times did I hear someone saying they didn't understand it but voted for it because the tan man told them to?????

Tom, here's an issue I see with that: It will only really benefit those with houses appraised higher than the average home. I am not saying those people do not need or deserve relief, but if I have a home with an assessed value of $160,000, minus my current homestead, minus the additional A1 homestead, I'm now paying one cent more in sales taxes and not getting an added benefit. And that's not complicating it with SOH.

FWIW, I'm not anti-raising sales tax. But as I read that snippet, it wouldn't help the average person, and could very will make them pay more.

If I missing something, please let me know. :)

To UUUUMMMM. This article is about property taxes. Don't worry. Charlie has forgotten about our insurance problem. But you'll see it in the news again.

Tom - I agree with you. And I'd like to know if you have additional info regarding the challenge that has been filed to the SOH/A1 crap. And how can others do the same???

wide right for you too, 11:44!

Dude, you overuse that "wide right" and never bother to explain yourself when doing so. If you are so much more knowledgeable, please inform us uneducated souls.

Dude, I never said you were "uneducated"... just that you missed the point, ie: wide right.

Why shouldn't those who can afford sky boxes pay taxes on them?

Why should the middle class have to pay to subsidize the rich and bear the burden of all the entitlements to both rich and poor.

Quite frankly, I can't afford to continue paying insurance surcharges so the rich can have cheap insurance on their beach front vacation homes.

Eliminate corporate welfare … errr… tax exemptions!

Problem Solved!

12:05 I was the recipient of that informative "wide right", just pointing out an observation.

12:09 agreed. Why are the skyboxes exempt from being considered property?

More tax cuts??? You've got to be kidding me! We can't even meet the budget and these folks want to give more money away? This is unreal! There must be something fishy going on in Tallahassee.

[Sandy]

Our property taxes are the main source of revenues for local government and local taxing authorities. Now that Gov Crist and the people who voted for A1 have what they wanted, those of us left out will have NO chance of getting them to vote to give us relief. After all, they have to have someone left out there that will pay the real tax load. So, given that this GREED FACTOR will continue, we only have two hopes left of getting fair treatment: (1) A1 and SOH is found unconstitutional. And that takes a long time and we will, in the meantime, be paying for all the free-loaders. (2)We do away with the existing property tax system completely, and replace it with a combination of an increase in sales taxes, a state income tax that has a constitutional cap for all, and a new property tax that has a cap of say, Rubio's 1.35% for everyone. It would have to be set so that the local governments can operate in the bad times, but they would have to meet certain reserves so that they don't spend irresponsibly in the good times. This way, there are no free-loaders and we will be working with a much bigger revenue, since it would pull into the system that 40% of the homesteaders that are not paying their fair share now.

Sandy,
While it seems you have given this much thought, I believe that SOH has already passed the court test.
As to state income tax, I believe that would require a change to the state constitution.

Sandy,

The 1.35 thing does very little because it caps property taxes at 1.35% of "assessed value." Well, if you're one of those long-term homeowners who just benefited from A1, your assessed value is much lower than the market value. The person who just moved two years ago has a much higher assessed value. Although I think there are different approaches that can help resolve the tax issue, this was one that Rubio should NOT have signed on to. It doesn't decrease inequities.

Rollback taxes and spending to 2002 levels and extend SOH to ALL property, both residential and commercial.

Problem Solved!

Don't cut taxes at all - our government can't meet the budget as it is. We need teachers, fire, and police more than fat cat developers need another BMW. Special interests should quit begging and let the legislature do what's right for FL residents.

Problem solved!

Isn't the assessed value the one closest to the market value? The taxable value would differ, but it seems the assessed value would be similar for neighbors.

1:46, do you keep that on your hard drive to copy and paste it?

1:46: Do you just have that message in your cut and paste function continuously? You've posted the same damn post every day for the past year!

12:11
Isn't that just another way of saying "tax everything?"

Going lefty on us?

2:24,

Maybe one day we'll figure out that it will work!

Money belongs in the hands of those who earn it. The government has become too greedy, taxing more than necessary to fund special programs that help politicians get re-elected.

Stop trying to re-distribute what citizens earn! Hard work and risk-taking which result in creation of jobs and production of goods and services should be rewarded, not punitively taxed!

[Dee]

Just forget about any tax reform involving an income tax. First of all it would require overturning a Constitutional Amendment prohibiting such and it would end up in the total destruction of both the economy (you think the real estate market is slow now imagine all the working and rich folks wanting to move out at one)and the Democratic Party.

The problem Florida has is all the mobile home dwellers and other non-payers that want to be warm in the winter for free at everyone elses expense. Florida has too many people on medicaid and homeless that come here from somewhere else. This results in a negative impact false economy.

Stop the drunken spending of local government!! IT'S OUTRAGEOUS!

Vote YES on all property tax relief until local government control their spending!

[John]

The 1.35% Property Tax Cap plan is still the best one out there. It will really revolutionalize property tax collection here in Florida like Prop. 13 did for California.

Everyone should get behind the 1.35% Property Tax Cap plan.

http://www.cutpropertytaxesnow.com/

[Tom]

11:44 AM
"Tom - I agree with you. And I'd like to know if you have additional info regarding the challenge that has been filed to the SOH/A1 crap. And how can others do the same???"

11:44 AM You might want to look here !
http://www.tallahassee.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080122/CAPITOLNEWS/801220318/-1/NEWS0106

[Buzzard]

Tax advertising.