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The Governor and Cabinet said no today to a proposed 49 slip marina in collier County.  Dunes marina was proposed by Vanderbilt Partners two.  Opposition included all but Agriculture Commissioner Charles Bronson. Afterwards, one of the supporters who would only tell us his name was “Frank” blamed the defeat on manatees. “The problem here is that people are trying to protect the manatees and they are not even residents of Florida. And I don’t think they should be protected. Not that they shouldn’t be protected, but we shouldn’t worry about them until we worry about the quality of life for people.”

CFO Alex Sink complemented the developer, saying she thought the project was well designed. She objected to how little the developer was going to be paying the state for the lease of the submerged land.  “My big issue is the money. We Floridians are not getting our money’s worth and we’re in tight budget times. Why are we giving away millions and millions of dollars in profit to private developers to sell docks when we ought to have our fair share of that and we could take that money to buy more environmental lands, we could do more environmental protection. It’s just a bad economic deal for Floridians. So I have been very consistent in voting against all of these until we get a new rule done or until these developers come to the table and offer us more dough.” says Sink. there is no word on whether the developer will bring the project back.

Lawmakers are at the Capitol to work on getting a property tax cut amendment on the January ballot.  But as Chris Casquejo tells us, under the current proposals, a majority of property owners might not see any relief.

Hear it here: Property Tax Debate Begins

In Florida, businesses own 34 percent of the taxable property. Rental property and second homes make up another third, leaving homestead property owners with the rest. Neither businesses nor rental unit owners will benefit from tax plans currently being talked about at the Capitol.  But a business lobby group is pushing to extend the current 3 percent cap to all properties.

“We want a 3 percent cap on what property taxes can go up on an annualized basis,” said Rick McAllister, with the Florida Retail Federation.  “And two, we want a revenue cap that says cities and counties can’t exceed that unless there is a referendum.

Lawmakers are considering providing some relief to landlords renting affordable housing and to commercial properties located along the water. 

While owners of rental properties and commercial real estate are clamoring for property tax relief, some Democratic lawmakers say even the current proposals go too far.

“It’s got to be this big tax cut.” said Sen. Steven Geller.  “And we keep changing before we ever see results of the prior changes.

Governor Charlie Crist says he understands the need to help renters.

“I’m a renter.  When property taxes went up, my rent went up,” the governor said.  “So my hope is when property taxes go down, rents will go down.”

Democrats will have some say in whatever happens, if only because a three-fourths vote is required to put something on the ballot in January.

A House committee unanimously approved the property tax package Monday afternoon.  The Senate’s first formal vote should come Tuesday.  Last month, a judge threw out a proposed amendment because it was too vaguely worded.

The U.S. Attorney General’s office is still deciding whether to bring federal civil rights charges in the Martin Lee Anderson case.  On Friday, college students shut down a main intersection of Tallahassee near the Capitol after an all-white jury acquitted 7 former guards and a nurse in Anderson’s death at the now-closed Bay County Boot Camp in January 2006.  The 14-year-old’s final moments were captured on videotape as guards kneed him and forced him to inhale ammonia capsules.

“I think that part of the federal inquiry that you’re going to see, at least on the Congressional side, is to dispel the myth that a black person could die from sickle cell trait, said Daryl Parks, one the Anderson family’s attorneys.  “And so, that’s totally false.  Unfortunately, that issue was not totally fleshed out during the course of the criminal trial.”

“It was tragic and sad and horrific in so many ways,” said Gov. Charlie Crist.  “I think the Legislature acted very responsibly to help this family out.  They deserve the appropriate compensation that the Legislature bestowed upon them.”

Earlier this year, the state of Florida paid Anderson’s family $5 million to settle a wrongful death lawsuit.

A Bay County jury took less than 3 hours to acquit seven guards and a nurse charged in the death of a 14-year-old boy.  Martin Lee Anderson died in January 2006.  As Chris Casquejo tells us, the boy’s family reacted with anger to the verdict.

Hear it here: Boot Camp Trial Verdict

Dead silence filled the courtroom as the verdict was read.

“The defendant is not guilty.”

The eight defendants were cleared of any wrongdoing in the death of Martin Lee Anderson.  The jury took about 3 hours to reach a verdict.  Anderson’s father was too overcome with emotion to react, but not his mother.

“I won’t see my son no more. They’ll see their family members.  Martin was 14 years old. At least we do know, you can kill a young black male and not do time for that.  Everything was in black and white, the video.  How in the hell are they going to let them walk away?” asked an angry Gina Jones.

The eight defendants’ family members say what happened here at the Bay County Boot Camp is a tragedy for everyone involved, their loved ones and the Andersons.

“I’m very sorry about what happened to their son,” said defense attorney Waylon Graham.  “It is a true tragedy, but these men did not commit a crime.”

Bay County Medical Examiner Charles Siebert’s initial autopsy ruled that Anderson died from sickle cell trait complications, findings that many called into question.

“I didn’t just make this up,” Siebert said.  “This is something that’s a real disease.  This is something that people can die from.  This is something we can learn from instead of burying our heads in the sand and saying, ‘Oh, he’s a liar.  It doesn’t exist.  Sickle cell doesn’t harm you.’  Let’s learn from this and prevent more kids from dying.”

With an emotional trial now over, the eight defendants look forward to moving on with their lives.  The question is, can the Andersons find peace?

The trial of seven guards and nurse in the death of a 14-year-old boy at the now-closed Bay County Boot Camp is nearing the end. Martin Lee Anderson died in January 2006. On Thursday, day 7 of the trial, jurors heard closing arguments. As Chris Casquejo tells us, the video took center stage and prosecutors asked a basic question of what guards were doing.

Hear it here: Boot Camp Trial Closing Arguments

The videotape of Martin Anderson’s death was the centerpiece of closing arguments from the prosecution. The seven guards and nurse are charged with aggravated manslaughter of a child. For Martin Anderson’s father, seeing his son struggle on video over and over is heart-wrenching.

“It’s reliving everything over again. You know what I’m saying? To sit there and listen to them tell their side of the story,” Anderson said.

One juror was excused for medical reasons. Defendant Joseph Walsh was also missing from the courtroom after being hospitalized with chest pains.

Two conflicting autopsies are central to this case. The first one from the Bay County Medical Examiner that ruled that Anderson died from complications from sickle cell trait. And the second from Hillsborough County that found Anderson died from suffocation.

With the video rolling, prosecutors argued that guards covering Martin Anderson’s mouth repeatedly and forcing him to inhale ammonia deprived him of oxygen and caused him to die.

“How long does this go on before someone says enough? Enough is enough! And it goes on and on,” said prosecutor Mike Sinacore.

The jury could start deliberating Friday morning.

The requirement for motorists to carry Personal Injury Protection is once again the law in Florida. Governor Charlie Crist signed the legislation this morning. The hitch is that it is not required until January first, which as Mike Vasilinda tells us, could lead to some confusing times for motorists involved in accidents over the next three months.

Hear it Here: Governor Signs PIP

There are 700 accidents a day in Florida. Until the No Fault law expired
October 1st every driver was required to carry Personal Injury
Protection Insurance to cover medical expenses.

The laws death was short. With the stroke of his pen, the governor once
again made No Fault the law of the land…but not until January first.
The Governor thinks the problems from the short lapse will be minimal.

“I doubt that many of those policies lapsed on October the first. I
think many of them are continuing right now,” Crist said.

Sponsor Bill Posey says over the next three months, motorists will still
have to prove they have insurance.

“Your still required, by law, to be financially responsible,” Posey said. “If you’re
in an accident between now and the first of January and you’re not
financially responsible, you will have your license suspended.”

As many as 300 thousand PIP policies could expire before January. House
Sponsor Ellyn Bogdanoff says if you are in doubt about your coverage,
call your agent.

“Obviously we passed the law because we think it’s an important
coverage. It provides the benefits that they need in the event they’re
in an accident,” Bogdanoff said. “So we would suggest that they absolutely find a carrier
that possibly is interested in selling them PIP or something like it, so
at least they have the protection until January 1, when everyone has to
comply.”

A coalition of insurers, lawyers and others had fought to keep the law
from coming back. The score, says sponsors,…the public interest, 100.
Special interests, zero.

Governor Charlie Crist today embraced proposals by House and Senate
Leaders to give property tax relief to first time home buyers, seniors,
businesses and working water fronts. The ideas were suggested by
lawmakers after the Governor circulated a draft that contained only a
doubling of the Homestead and the concept of Portability, which lets
homeowners take their Save Our Homes credits with them when they move.
Crist calls portability the best feature of the new plan.

“Portability, giving homeowners the opportunity to go to the next home,
making sure that they don’t feel trapped in their home. You know, as we
went around the state last year, over and over I kept hearing from
people that they literally felt trapped in their own home,” Crist said. “They couldn’t
take their three percent, Save Our Home cap with them. With portability
they will have that freedom.”

Lawmakers are expected to approve the plan next week and send it to
voters for a January 29th ballot. This plan replaces one ruled
unconstitutional by a judge last month.

Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw and a host of other law
enforcement officers are asking Governor Charlie Crist for ten million
dollars in next years budget to fight gangs and educate kids and parents
of the gang danger. Bradshaw says the problem is beyond just one
county’s ability to deal with.

“Well basically the Governor and his office understand that there’s a
gang issue in Palm Beach county. But what’s happened is the gangs have
taken from Palm Beach county into Dade and Broward and the rest of the
state,” Bradshaw said. “Some of the gangs that are actually in Palm Beach county operate
in Tallahassee. So it’s not just a Palm Beach problem, it’s a regional
problem. And that’s why we believe it’s important to get this funding,
to address it regionally, which will effect every area of the state. ”
 
Asked later, the Governor said he was sympathetic to the request. The
question will be whether the state can afford the ten million after
budget cuts being made in this years budget and a gloomy outlook for
revenues next year.

The Florida Supreme Court listened to attorneys for two man facing death
argue that the staff who administer the lethal chemicals are not well
enough trained to insure the inmates do not suffer pain or cruel and
unusual punishment. Executions have been halted in Florida since last
year when it took 34 minutes to kill an inmate. An autopsy revealed the
IV tube was inserted improperly. One inmate faces a November 15th
execution, but Justice Harry Lee Anstead noted the U-S Supreme Court is
already looking at the lethal injection process and allowing the
November execution to go forward could be a mistake.

“I can’t see any urgency to going ahead and having an execution, which
is irreparable obviously should the supreme court say ‘we got it wrong’,” Anstead said.

Attorney Susan Keffer also says going forward would be a mistake.

“I think it would be premature for them to go forward with a decision at
this point in time, not knowing what the United States Supreme Court is
going to say that the standard is,” Keffer said. “You can’t reach the merits of this
claim unless you determine how you evaluate the claim. And that’s what
the U.S. Supreme Court is going to decide.”

The U-S Supreme Court decision could be months away. Asked about the
case, Governor Charlie Crist said “a lot of people are waiting for
justice.”

More details of the latest plan to cut property taxes are surfacing tonight. One of the key items in the new plan lets homeowners take their Save Our Homes savings with them when they move anywhere in Florida. As Chris Casquejo tells us, you’ll need a calculator to understand how the new plan affects you.

Hear it here: Property Tax Portability Explained

Portability is a concept that lets you take your homestead savings to a new house, bigger or smaller.

Check your tax bill. It will list your homes market value. In this case, just over $262,000. It will also list the assessed value, just over $158,000. The difference is $104,000.

If you moved to a $300,000 home, you would subtract that $104,000, leaving the assessed value of the new home at $196,000. Then subtract the new $50,000 dollar homestead exemption and you’re paying taxes on a $146,000 dollar home.

You can also take the saving the other way, to say a $150,000 dollar home. Now you have to figure the percentage of your assessed value to your current home’s true value, which in this case is 60%. That leaves you with a new assessed value of $90,000, minus the $50,000 homestead, for a taxable value of $40,000.

Under this new plan, you have up to a year after you sell your old house to buy a new home and keep your Save Our Homes exemption.

Smaller counties worry that they could lose 90 percent of their revenue if the homestead exemption is doubled.

“If current proposals went through, they would go from 3 ambulances to one,” said Cragin Mosteller with the Florida Association of Counties. “That’s not a dog catcher, that’s critical life-saving services.”

Lawmakers could vote on this property tax plan by next Wednesday.

House Speaker Marco Rubio said Floridians would be disappointed in the Governor’s doubling of the homestead exemption because it did not go far enough and suggested sweetening the tax cuts by three billion dollars. The Speaker would assess affordable housing at less than just value, eliminate property taxes for 500,000 low-income seniors, and create exemptions for homeowners who make energy efficiency upgrades.
The speaker noted next weeks special session would not be the end of the debate.
“This is about people not being able to afford what they’re being charged, people upset that their appraisals are much higher than they think they should be. This is about our economy that’s suffering because the entire real estate market has come to a grinding halt, for a number of factors admittedly, but this being a big one. So this is not an issue that’s going to vanish, even after I’m gone.”

Rubio also called for changing the way people challenge assessments — putting the burden of proof not on the homeowner but the property appraiser. He also took a shot at the Miami Dade property appraiser…who is the only appointed appraiser in the state, calling for the election of all property appraisers.

The Governor and Florida lawmakers are close to a deal on cutting
property taxes. The first effort, known as a super sized homestead
exemption was ruled unconstitutional. Now as Mike Vasilinda tells us,
voters will still have something to vote on January 29th.

Hear it Here: Property Taxes Back on Front Burner

The new property tax cutting plan doubles the 25 thousand dollar
homestead exemption to 50 thousand dollars, although homes would have to
be worth that much to take advantage of the additional exemption.
Under the new scheme, the first 25 thousand dollars in value on this
house would be exempt from taxes. Then the owner would pay taxes on the
next 25 thousand and then anything over 50 to 75 would be exempt as well.

It is a plan Charlie Crist likes. “I think we have a pretty good idea of what the people want. You know, they kind of scream it to us as we walk around the state. It’s no secret
what they would like to have happen. And this isn’t the end of it
either. We can keep chopping away.”

There is also a provision to allow homeowners to take their homestead
exemption with them when they move, although their home value will rise
more quickly than someone who stays put. Small businesses will be able
to exempt some of their equipment from taxes. Local governments, who
opposed the last attempt, say the devil will be in the yet to be
released details. John Thomas from the League of Cities wants to be more involved.
“You can’t have true reform and not have us at the table right now.
These are deals that are being done without us being totally involved
like we should.”

Lawmakers are considering extending their current special session on the
budget to work on the tax amendment over the weekend and into next week.
They face an October 29th deadline to have something ready for the ballot.
The Governor says the state will drop the appeal on the
first amendment if lawmakers come up with something workable for the
January ballot

Governor Charlie Crist got resounding reviews from a handful of Hispanic
Business owners invited to the Governor’s mansion to brief the Governor
on their concerns. Property taxes is high on their list, but when the
topic of Insurance came up, the Governor responded in a very animated
fashion. “All of last year, they profited 63 Billion..and in the last three
months…32 Billion. What does that tell you about this industry,
without a major storm? They’re not doing what you do, in my humble
opinion, by what you do with your customers. Treating them right
treating them fair and honest , ” Crist told the group.

Afterward, Mark Lopez, a banker from Tampa, thought it was worth his time.
“ I think he’s very receptive and I think he’s got his eye on the ball in
those areas as far as property taxes and insurance and things that are
really hurting our state right now at the present time. I think that
when you look at future programs, economic development is certainly
where we want to go.”

Gloria Pugh of Tallahassee also found the governor willing to listen.
“The affordable housing is a very, very important issue to me as well as
education because of the fact that we as employers are having a very
difficult time finding employees because they are living so far away and
with the fuel prices as they are, they are incurring a lot of expenses
just to get to work.”

Crist meets with average citizens at the Governor’s mansion once a month.

In a rare case this morning, the Florida Supreme Court listened to
lawyers tell it why it should reverse a decision made less than a month
ago. In September, the court ruled that local governments must let
voters decide if they want to approve certain bond issues. That ruling
overturned 27 years of law in Florida. Today the court was told holding
the course would result in chaos for local government funding.
Elaine Johnson James, the attorney for Escambia county asked the judges to
change their minds, “Community redevelopment agencies deal in blighted areas. They already
have the difficulty of trying to find funds to rebuild areas. If you add
to that the additional expense of referenda, the tax increment financing
deal is going to be a dinosaur in Florida.”

But attorney David Theriaque who argued for opponents of local government,
urged the court to not change a thing about their ruling. “We believe that this
decision is a victory for the voters of Florida, that before long-term debt in
incurred, they get to say yes or no. We hope the court doesn’t back off from that.
To me, that’s the big picture of this case.”

The court took the case under advisement. It was the first time most
members of the court participated in rehearing oral arguments in a case.

Florida’s Chief Financial Officer says the state should stop underwriting
hurricane risks since it did not result in lower insurance rates as
promised. Florida is on the hook for up to 28 Billion dollars in
hurricane losses. The CFO is proposing getting out of the risky business
because after two years of no storms, reinsurance rates for property
insurers are coming down.  In making the proposal, Sink asks “Do we really
want to mortgage our future when there is an opportunity
to spread this risk back out to the global market. Let’s spread this
risk out globally, as opposed to have it all, these billions of dollars,
concentrated right here on the backs of Florida citizens.”

Sink is also proposing putting the authority for the hurricane fund
under the Governor and Cabinet. Right now she has sole authority..and
responsibility for the fund.