June 14. 2007 3:44PM
ASSOCIATED PRESS
TALLAHASSEE -- Primary homeowners would have the choice of getting a new property tax break or keeping the one they now have under a state constitutional amendment that narrowly passed the Senate on Thursday.
If also passed by the House, the Republican-sponsored amendment would go on the Jan. 29 presidential primary ballot for voters to approve. But it has drawn opposition from Democrats, local governments, teachers, police, firefighters and others.
The Senate revised the proposal to include the taxpayer choice provision because some Republicans were worried the amendment's new "super exemption" might not be such a good a deal in the long run, although most homeowners would benefit immediately.
That change, though, makes it impossible to estimate average taxpayer savings or the amendment's overall savings. The original amendment would have cut property taxes by $16 billion over five years, but Republican leaders said the change could drop that to about $8 billion over the same time.
The amendment is half of a two-part tax relief and restructuring plan offered by leaders of both Republican-controlled chambers to cut local property taxes by an original estimate of $31.6 billion over the next five years.
Assuming only half of taxpayers opt for the super exemption on their homes' taxable value, overall savings would drop to about $24 billion, which is still billed as the biggest tax cut in the state's history.
The amendment passed the Senate 25-12 -- one over the 24-vote minimum -- on a straight party-line vote.
Democrats argued it still fails to help taxpayers who need it most, would force local governments to lay off police, firefighters and other employees and chop billions of dollars from public schools.
The choice provision, though, may help the amendment at the polls, said Senate Majority Leader Dan Webster, R-Winter Garden.
"Any lengthy constitutional amendment, especially with a 60 percent vote, is going to be a tough sell," Webster said. "This may make it easier."
The Save Our Homes Amendment voters adopted in 1992 limits assessment increases on primary homes, known as homesteads, to 3 percent annually.
The revised new amendment would let taxpayers stay under Save Our Homes or take the super exemption that would knock 75 percent off of the first $200,000 of their home's value and 15 percent off the next $300,000.
The original version would have required all primary homeowners benefiting from the new exemption in the first year -- an estimated 73 percent -- to take it even though Save Our Homes might have saved them more in the future.
The other element of the plan is a bill, set for floor votes in both chambers later Thursday, that has bipartisan support and would not need voter approval.
It would require local governments, except school boards, to reduce taxes and then cap them with allowances for new construction and growth in personal income. It also would let local governments override those limits by more than a majority vote or through local referendums.
Both chambers unanimously passed a third measure to put the amendment on the presidential primary ballot instead of waiting until the next general election in November 2008.
House Speaker Marco Rubio, R-West Miami, and Senate President Ken Pruitt, R-Port St. Lucie, called a special session that began Tuesday after lawmakers were unable to agree on property tax cuts during their regular session that ended May 4.
Working behind the scenes, Rubio, Pruitt and other leaders put the final tax-cutting plan together.
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