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Florida’s realtors are starting their push to get voters to pass a property tax cut amendment in January.  The Florida Association of Realtors plans to spend one-million dollars to educate voters.  The amendment would double the homestead exemption and allow homeowners to transfer their Save Our Homes benefit to a new homestead.  It also would put a 10 percent cap on property tax increases on second homes and businesses.  John Sebree with the Florida Association of Realtors believes the current proposal is simpler than the so-called super-sized homestead exemption that a judge struck down.

“That was a little bit confusing for people to understand.” Sebree said.  “This time around, they’ll know that they’re getting portability.  They’ll know that it’s doubling of the homestead exemption.  It’s fairly easy to calculate.  And it won’t take, probably, the education that the previous amendment took.”

60 percent of voters have to approve the amendment to change Florida’s property tax law.

Governor Charlie Crist met with Alabama’s and Georgia’s governors and members of the Bush administration Thursday morning to try to settle a 17-year-old water war.  Because of severe drought, Georgia wants to limit the flow of Lake Lanier, which flows down into the Apalachicola.  As Chris Casquejo tell us, people who depend on the Apalachicola Bay seafood industry have little sympathy for their neighbors to the north.

Hear it here: Water War Heads to DC

In Apalachicola, David Jackson and his friends are readying their tent for the 44th annual Seafood Festival.  18 to 20 thousand are expected to attend.  But Jackson worries about the future of Apalachicola Bay’s seafood.

“We can import it in from China,” he said.  “But that’s not what Franklin County is known about.  It’s fresh, local seafood.”

The industry brings in $134 million each year.  The mixture of the river’s fresh water and the bay’s saltwater is ideal for fish and shellfish.  Florida gets 90 percent of its fresh oysters from the bay.

Georgia’s governor believes drinking water is more important than preserving a good breeding ground for oysters.  But people from the area say, without oysters, their entire livelihoods are in danger.

James Silva has lived in Apalachicola all his 71 years.  He worked on a shrimp boat for 21.  He’s seen changes on the river and bay, but nothing like this.

“You catch saltwater fish and sharks 10 miles up there,” he said.  “Where you would have never caught one 20 years ago.”

David Jackson has little sympathy for Georgia’s governor.  He believes water is not something to fight over.

“He don’t have it right now,” Jackson said.  “But it might be six months down the road from now he might be griping and complaining he’s got too much water.”

The people of Apalachicola will be watching this water war like their livelihoods depend on it.

Some environmental groups like Apalichicola Riverkeeper expect this water war to end up in the U.S. Supreme Court.

A new study coming out Thursday shows sobering numbers when it comes to Floridians without health insurance.  Currently, 1 out of 5 people in the state have no insurance.  And the state ranks 46th out of 50 in the percentage of workers that have insurance paid by their employer.  As Chris Casquejo tells us, small businesses are faced with the difficult choice of insuring their workers or going out of business.

Hear it here: Health Care on Your Own

The lunch hour at Looper’s Sub Shop brings a big rush.  Owner Ralph Ricardo has 10 workers.
But he can’t give them health insurance, or he’d go out of business.

“Even if I was to pay for half of it and the employees paid for half of it, they would lose their salary because they get paid so low here,” Ricardo said.  “Working in a sub shop, they wouldn’t be able to afford it.  I can’t afford it.”

For workers like Justin Pizza, no health insurance means living on the edge every day.

“I definitely have to be more careful.  I have to weigh out how sick I am versus how much money I have if I have to go get treated for it,” he said.

Florida’s Agency for Health Care Administration is looking at ways to help small businesses like this one find affordable health care for workers.

Drawing mainly from college students, Clayt Thompson does not have any problems filling his job openings at his packaging store.

“College students need flexibility more than they need the insurance programs because their parents have that,” Thompson said.

But for sub shop owner Ralph Ricardo, having no health insurance for workers comes at a price.

“I lose employees probably every 3 or 4 months.  High turnover,” he said.

So until he finds affordable health care, he’ll always be looking for new workers.

Florida International University’s Research Institute for Social and Economic Policy will release the full study on Thursday.

Legal questions are being raised tonight over the new property tax plan
sent to the ballot by lawmakers this week. Mike Vasilinda tells us the
plan was adopted even though the legislature’s own staff warned parts of
the plan could by unconstitutional.

Hear it here: Legal Questions to Tax Plan Raised

The moment state lawmakers approved a new property tax amendment for the ballot,

“If you are in favor of the motion signify by saying yea” shouted the House Speaker from the dias, they opened the door for legal challenges to Florida’s save our homes exemption.

In a legal analysis, the legislature’s own staff raised constitutional questions over portability… That’s the concept of allowing longtime homeowners to move their tax saving to a new home.

If approved by voters, two homeowners who buy identical houses on the same day could be paying vastly different real estate taxes.

Harvey Bennett of Florida Taxwatch says that isn’t right, doesn’t fix current inequities, and opens the door to challenge. “It could be construed as having two separate, distinct unequal tax systems.”

The governor’s office believes the naysayers are out of touch.  George Lemieux is the Governor’s Chief of Staff “It does not treat out-of-state folks any different than it treats in-state folks. What it does is prefers homesteaders, whether they’re in-state or out-of-state. So we believe it’s constitutional.” says Lemieux

But Florida’s Teacher’s union says not so fast. Challenging the new exemption might be just one of the ways to oppose it. “That’s always a possibility” says FEA President Andy Ford. “We have had preliminary conversations with a variety of people and our options are still open at this point.”

The stakes are high. In a worst case scenario, homeowners could end up paying back any money they’ve saved from the Save our Homes Exemption, if it’s ever declared unconstitutional.

Florida Democrats are split on the Tax proposal. Rep. Dan Gelber, the House minority leaders says: “It is ironic that a day after the legislature voted to fund tax relief with a near $3 billion cut to public education, a report comes to light announcing that only South Carolina has a higher high school dropout rate than Florida”. Gelber was a no vote on the plan.

Several newspapers around the state are pouring cold water on the property tax plan passed by lawmakers and championed by Governor Charlie Crist. Florida Taxwatch, a non profit government watchdog is also piling on, saying the plan passed Monday does little to help those who need help the most. Harvey Bennett of Taxwatch says if there was real relief, it would have gone to renters, second home owners, and businesses.

“The legislature is trying to do something to save face. They’re trying to do something to appeal to the voters of the state, the homeowners who have somewhat of a problem in the property tax system but a very minor problem compared to the majority of property owners who are really suffering under our two separate but unequal property tax systems that we have in Florida.”

So they’re trying to be popular?

“They’re trying to be popular. And popular is not necessarily right.”

Taxwatch consistently told lawmakers during the debate that they were hitting the wrong target, but their advice fell on deaf ears.

Florida’s Teachers Union is weighing its options on the new tax plan. Florida Education Association President Andy Ford says the teachers know they don’t like it, but they aren’t sure what they will do next. At an afternoon news conference, Ford told reporters  “We have consistently stated that we wanted our state’s leaders to keep their word and craft a plan that holds public education harmless. The plan passed earlier this week does not hold public education harmless. It cuts, depending on various estimates, an amount ranging from 1.8 billion dollars to 3 billion dollars from public schools over the next 5 years.”

The teachers are holding a meeting in mid November with their governing board to discuss options. They are also conducting a poll and talking with other groups who don’t like the plan.

Hear Complete News Conference

The Florida Education Association is lashing out at the tax proposal sent to the ballot by lawmakers. They don’t like it but don’t know what they will do next. Hear FEA President Andy Ford’s raw news conference.

Three months from today, voters will go to the polls to decide if they want to lower their property taxes. The plan was passed yesterday by the state legislature and will appear on the January 29th ballot. As Mike Vasilinda tells us, a number of groups may be lining up to tell you lowering your taxes may not be such a good idea.

Hear it here: Property Tax Campaign Begins

For Charlie Crist, Tuesday was day one in the campaign to convince voters the property tax cuts approved by legislators are a good idea.

“We’ll campaign like the dickens to make sure that they understand the truth of what’s happened here, how good this will be for them, how good this will be for Florida families, ” says Crist.

Florida schools stand to lose an estimated 2.7 billion dollars over the next five years if the amendment passes. So one of the first calls the governor made was here..to the President of the Florida Education Association. “I talked to them, pleaded with them to hear us out before they launch.”

Mark Pudlow of the Florida Education Association, which represents teachers, says you should be worried about cuts if the amendment passes. “It’s going to have an impact on programs and classes. It may have an impact on jobs”.

In addition to the teachers, there are four likely opponents to the amendment: the firefighters, the police unions, the cities and the counties. On the other side of the debate: Realtors…who already said they would spend up to a million dollars to pass an amendment they hope jump starts sales.

It is an argument Charlie Crist will use to sell the amendment to voters.

“This is going to fire up Florida’s economy. This economic engine that has been held back, ” says the Governor.

In the end the amendment may prove to be too popular to oppose…or too expensive.

The tax cut is estimated to be about 12 billion dollars. It comes on top of a 15 billion dollar cut his past June.

The state filed paperwork this afternoon to drop its appeal of the lower court ruling that threw the first property tax amendment off the ballot.  Read the paperwork here:

State Drops Appeal

In January, voters will decide whether they want to change Florida’s property tax law.  Part of the plan includes a 10 percent annual limit on property taxes for second homes and businesses.  As Chris Casquejo tells us, one rental property owner says the change will help him stay in business.

Hear it here: Rental Owners on Property Tax Cut Plan

Steven Profitt is sprucing up his Tallahassee townhouse with hopes of renting it in December.   Since he bought it 2003, he’s seen his property taxes go up each year.  He believes a 10 percent cap on future increases will help keep him from selling the place.

“I’ll take any dollar saving any day,” Profitt said.  “I’m sure anybody would.  Whether it’s 20 dollars, 30 dollars, I’ll take any penny saved.”

For Steven, what he pays for his mortgage equals what he gets in rent.  If he raised the rent, he wouldn’t find any takers.

And if he gets the $725 a month he’s asking, it will not cover insurance and taxes.

“You add on insurance increases over the last few years too, and you’re always behind,” he said. “That’s the situation I’m at here.”

Profitt stood next to Governor Charlie Crist at the Capitol Tuesday morning. Crist is taking the pitch to change property tax laws to voters statewide.

“The rental properties help him save money to save for retirement,” Gov. Crist said.

Steven Profitt hopes lawmakers are just getting started.

“I think this is a step in the right direction and I’m proud to be part of it,” he said.

And he believes voters will pass the amendment, and help keep homeowners like him in the rental business.

60 percent of voters have to approve the property tax cut amendment on January 29th.

Now that state lawmakers have passed a property tax plan, there are new
concerns the idea of limiting taxes on homesteads could be
unconstitutional. The argument was raised during debate, and today,
reporters asked the governor if he thought the new tax language, it
adopted by voters, could be ruled unconstitutional. He called on his
chief of staff George Lemiux, who answered the question this way:

It’s been the position of this office and of our legal council that the
current system of Save Our Homes as well as making it portable, which is
just really taking the current system with you, is constitutional. It
does not treat out-of-state folks any different then it treats in-state
folks. What it does is it prefers homesteaders, whether they’re in-state
or out-of-state. So we believe it’s constitutional and it will be defended.”

To date, there has been no aggressive court challenge to the
constitutionality of the Save Our Homes provisions, but making the
difference even larger between homestead and non homestead properties
might draw such a challenge.

The election is in 90 days and the Governor considers this Day 1 of another campaign. He started in Tallahassee, then went on to Jacksonville, Orlando, and Port St. Lucie. There was another round of thanks for everyone involved again this morning. But the Governor had a lot of other things to say. Hear the morning kickoff here:

Governor Begins Property Tax Campaign

Florida lawmakers have passed a simplified plan to reduce your property
taxes. As Mike Vasilinda reports, the final say will be up to voters in
January.

From beginning…to end, It took the Senate just over three hours to send the house an
ultimatum…pass our property tax plan or get nothing at all. The plan doubles the Homestead Exemption. Senator Jim King of Jacksonville says it is simple and gives homeowners what they want “People came and said ‘look, I want a couple things. I want the double homestead. I understand homestead. I’ve got one homestead, two is better than one. I want that.’”

The plan also lets homeowners take tax savings to a new house, and it caps future increases on businesses and second homes at ten percent. Sen. Ronda Storms failed at lowering the cap.

“I can go back to my constituents and my small business owners and say, you know, we got something. It’s more than half a loaf.” says Storms

The impact on schools is uncertain, but local governments and special fire districts say there will be pain. “ Ron Beasley spent the past weeks trying to keep his Palm Beach unit from being cut.
“At this point we’re going to be seriously looking at what’s left to be cut from the budget. Unfortunately I think the final result is going to be personnel.” How many, Beasley says, remains to be seen.

What’s happened at the Capitol is just half the battle. The rest is up to voters. Charlie Crist was ecstatic and he predicts voters will say yes. “Who doesn’t want a property tax cut after all. I mean think about it. It’s simpler, which I think is better” says Crist.

The January 29th vote will require a 60 percent margin of approval. The plan to let homeowners move and take their homestead exemption with them is retroactive to January 2007.

The Florida Senate won its property tax showdown with the House.  Shortly after 7 Monday night, the House voted overwhelmingly to accept the Senate version of a property tax cut package.  Voters will decide January 29th if they want those cuts to become law.  60 percent of voters have to approve the measure.

Florida lawmakers are working against a midnight deadline to pass a property tax reform package. But as Mike Vasilinda tells us, a take it or leave it deal is leaving a bad taste in some peoples mouth.

From beginning to end, it took the Senate just over three hours to send the house an ultimatum…pass our property tax plan or get nothing at all.

The plan doubles the Homestead Exemption. Senators say it is simple and it gives homeowners what they want.

“People came and said ‘look, I want a couple things,” Sen. Jim King said. “I want the double homestead. I understand homestead. I’ve got one homestead, two is better than one. I want that.’”

The plan also lets homeowners take tax savings to a new house, and it caps future increases on businesses and second homes at ten percent. Sen. Ronda Storms failed at lowering the cap.

“I can go back to my constituents and my small business owners and say, you know, we got something,” Storms said. “It’s more than half a loaf.”

The future in the house is anything but certain. House Speaker Marco Rubio doesn’t think the plan goes far enough.

“It doesn’t kick start our economy and I think that was really, at the end of our day, that was our ultimate goal, was to do something that changed the economic environment in Florida,” Rubio said. “And that just doesn’t accomplish it. We missed a golden opportunity.”

Charlie Crist was cautiously optimistic.

“I think that the Senate has done incredible work,” Crist said. “I am very encouraged about what I hear as it relates to the House and I am optimistic.”

Even if lawmakers agree before their midnight deadline, three out of five voters must also say okay in January.

The plan to let homeowners move and take their homestead exemption with them is retroactive to January 2007.