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State lawmakers are deadlocked over several key tax cutting ideas and have decided to take the weekend off and work behind the scenes. As Mike Vasilinda tells us, there are three key sticking points in the tax debate.

Hear it Here: Property Tax Limbo

Seniors will get a tax break on their home’s first 100 thousand dollars of value…or maybe more..how much is a bone of contention in the property tax negotiations. A second sticking point is whether to cap future increases on all property..not just homesteads. It is something House negotiators want.

“I’m of the opinion that you should never call anything ‘deal breaker’ until you can’t make a deal. We’re working on all of these issues and trying to come up with a consensus,” Rep. Dean Cannon said.

For the second day in a row, lawmakers asked for divine guidance.

“When things look hopeless and it appears impossible to develop a plan…”

A third sticking point is a plan that would set homestead exemptions at 40 percent of the median value in a county…rather than setting a flat 50 thousand dollar exemption. But specific numbers on the differing plans weren’t available so the House canceled its daily session.

“Come back 3 p.m. Monday. We’ll see how it goes from there,” House Speaker Marco Rubio said.

Governor Charlie Crist called a morning news conference to talk about his latest ideas on property taxes. But when lawmakers called it quits for the weekend, he canceled.

The Governor did call reporters to his office to say he continues to be optimistic.

“I want to make sure we stay focused on how this affects Florida families,” Crist said. “And that they need this relief, they deserve to have it and the House and Senate will deliver it to them.”

Lawmakers have an October 29th deadline if they want to put a tax cut on the January 29th ballot.