Constitutional panel may offer voters more property tax relief

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) – Nov, 2, 2007 – A state commission Thursday began batting around ideas for giving taxpayers more property tax relief than they’ll get even if voters approve a ballot proposal the Legislature passed three days earlier.Several members of the Taxation and Budget Reform Commission, which also has the power to offer voters proposed state constitutional amendments, said they were disappointed with the legislative plan. It’ll be on the Jan. 29 presidential primary ballot.The commission, which meets once every 20 years, cannot put items on the ballot, though, until the November 2008 general election.Commissioners said the legislative plan doesn’t cut taxes enough – particularly for businesses, snowbirds, landlords and recent or first-time home buyers – although lawmakers estimate it would save taxpayers $12.4 billion over five years.The discussion ranged from simply expanding the legislative plan to eliminating property tax collections for schools and replacing those dollars by repealing sales tax exemptions.“We now have to come together and say this is something that we are going to definitely address and it should be our No. 1 priority,” said Commissioner Nancy Riley, president of the Florida Association of Realtors.Duval County Tax Collector Mike Hogan said, “Folks are expecting us to do something.”The full commission didn’t discuss specific alternatives but several came up later during a meeting of the panel’s Planning and Budgetary Processes Committee chaired by former state Rep. Carlos Lacasa, a Miami lawyer.Lacasa said he favors a plan the House had passed before reluctantly accepting a take-it-or-leave-it compromise offered by the Senate.“The Legislature moved the ball in the right direction, but the ball can still be moved further,” Lacasa said.He thinks voters should pass the legislative proposal and then the commission could offer more tax savings in the fall.The Jan. 29 proposal would double the current $25,000 homestead exemption but only for primary homes valued at more than $50,000 – and except for school taxes. That provision is expected to save $240 a year for the average homeowner.The legislative amendment also would let homesteaders take at least part of their existing Save Our Homes benefits along when they move - known as “portability” - up to an assessed value of $500,000.Save Our Homes caps annual assessment increases at 3 percent. The legislative plan would establish a similar cap of 10 percent for businesses, second homes and rentals although increases rarely are that high.Lacasa said he favors a 5 percent cap on non-homestead assessments and a $1 million portability limit, both part of the House plan. He also advocates an additional exemption for first-time home buyers.Riley, of Clearwater, said expanding the portability limit to $1 million is her top priority, saying what that buys “is getting smaller and smaller.”Lake County Tax Collector Bob McKee said replacing local school taxes with new state money generated by repealing certain sales tax exemptions could cut property tax bills by up to 54 percent. Services and an array of goods including food and medicine are exempt from sales tax.“That’s serious money,” McKee said. “It’s not $240 a year ... That’s real tax relief.”The Legislature repealed exemptions for most services in 1987 but quickly restored them after protests mostly from businesses.Commissioner Martha Barnett, a Tallahassee lawyer and former American Bar Association president, was dismayed property taxes have overshadowed longer-range issues such as broadening the state’s tax base.Commissioner Chairman Allan Bense, a former Florida House speaker from Panama City, in an interview said it may be difficult to pass far-reaching property tax relief because it takes votes from at least 17 of the panel’s 25 regular members to put anything on the ballot.“I think maybe we could put some icing on the cake,” Bense said.
© 2007 The Associated Press, Bill Kaczor, Associated Press Writer.