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New Florida Tax Cut Bill May Not Get On The Ballot |
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Friday, 08 February 2008 |
A new but more radical proposal promoted by House Speaker Marco Rubio to cap all property taxes is going to get a hearing in both the House and Senate when the lawmaking session begins in March, but there is no guarantee it will make it to the November ballot.
The proposal to cap annual taxes at 1.35 percent of a property's taxable value will be written up as a constitutional amendment and heard in legislative committees. But the idea, patterned after Proposition 13 in California 30 years ago and currently the subject of a citizen petition drive, is neither endorsed by Senate President Ken Pruitt nor supported by the business groups that fuel many of the campaigns of the Republican-led Legislature.
Senate sponsor Mike Bennett, a Bradenton Republican, calls it a fairness measure needed to offset the inequities locked into the state Constitution with the passage of the Amendment 1 property tax cut last week.
The amendment increased the homestead exemption and allowed longtime homeowners to take their savings from Save Our Homes with them when they move. The practice, known as portability, gives the greatest benefits to homeowners who have been in their homes seven years or more because they have accumulated the largest tax breaks.
New homeowners in Florida and homeowners who have recently moved get the lowest benefits from the amendment.
Vanessa Arellano Doctor
http://epicmiami.com |
Real Estate News 