Welcome to

The November election is just a little over 4 months away and already a campaign to kill a tax cutting amendment is underway. As Mike Vasilinda tells us, the fight against the so called tax swap has created some unusual allies.

Amendment 5 eliminates the majority of local school taxes know as required local effort. The sales tax would likely go up a penny, but that still leaves almost 6 billion dollars that has to be found or cut from the budget.

Some of the states most powerful groups…Hospitals…nursing homes…schools…agriculture

Sen. Mike Haridopolus (R-Brevard County) had this to say: “We view this as as simple bait and switch”

The groups are out in force against the amendment. Wayne Blanton from the Fl. School Boards Association says it is a train wreck for the states economy “Public schools alone employ 360 thousand people, so you are looking at 40, 50, 60 thosuand people being laid off in education. This is an absolute disaster for public schools.”

Virtually every major business group in Florida wants to see this amendment go away…with the exception of realtors. Florida Realtors hung their hopes on Amendment One in January to boost sales….it didn’t…so now John Sebree says they will spent at lest a million dollars trying to pass the tax swap.

“Amendment 5 would definately be good for the real estate market, becaue it not just relief for current homestead peoperty owners. This is relief for every property owner in Florida”. says Sebree

We met Jim Ivey on a street corner. He freely admits he doesn’t know enough about the amendment….still…
he says…I’d rather pay it in sales tax”.

The fight will be bitter..long and expensive. The biggest hurdle supporters of 5 have is that it must pass with 60 percent of the vote.