Tax Revisions

The following is an excerpt from a FAR news bullitin. Agree or disagree but let your senator know how you feel (if you don't, then don't complain later).


TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Oct. 17, 2007 – A Florida House committee approved significant property tax relief yesterday afternoon that creates a 3 percent assessment cap on non-homestead and commercial properties that the state currently offers only to homestead properties.But senators, many unconvinced, now will consider the House’s revisions.

“FAR (Florida Association of Realtors) President Nancy Riley and our Tallahassee lobbying team met with House leaders late into the evening (Monday) night, and we have continued to make the case for property tax relief that would be felt by all property owners in Florida, not just homestead owners,” says John Sebree, FAR vice president of public policy. “(Yesterday) we met with numerous other elected officials, including the governor, lieutenant governor, and House and Senate leaders.” FAR’s meetings with lawmakers continued today.

The 3 percent yearly cap would also end Florida’s current property tax system that readjusts values when a property is purchased, meaning a new owner of commercial or non-homestead property would no longer be hit with a large and unexpected tax increase upon ownership since the assessment cap remains in place forever. (Homestead property would still be readjusted upon sale – property tax portability would offset that difference.) The House bill also calls for a penny increase in Florida’s sales tax to offset the decrease in funding from property taxes. The one-penny sales tax would “buy-out” the portion of the property tax for the “required local effort” (the school portion of everyone's property taxes). The money raised by the sales tax increase would be earmarked for education. House estimates call for a 15 percent across the board property tax reduction if this swap measure is included in the final package.

The House and Senate begin work today on compromise legislation, and FAR leaders don’t want important protections created in the House bill to be eliminated during the process.“Our focus now turns to the Senate,” says Sebree. “We need to apply pressure to Senators to accept these major additions to the current legislation being considered in the special session.

Don't be afraid to add your comments about anything. (taxes, rezoning, new babies, whatever).

Enjoy,

Bruce Howland


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Hello Again

Well I see more and more people are checking the website and the feedback I have gotten has been great. The last blog talked about the no rezone situation. This week I just want to point out something of concern to many. There are 132 families trying to sell their homes at this time ( 50 single family and 72 condos/townhouses/villas) for some reason or other.

Potential buyers driving through the neighborhood are driving by the red signs and seeing red flags. Who wants to buy into a neighborhood fraught with controversy? So What's happening? Values are going down faster than even this off market already dictates. This is a serious problem for those needing to sell. Turnover is good for everyone. The majority of new buyers update their homes and that keeps property values rising

Consider this: residents need to be aware. By now they are. They may need to be reminded periodically (before meetings or once a month), but the general public (possible buyers) don't need to be scared off.

Don't misunderstand me. Of course the problem has to be disclosed to a potential buyer, but that may be accomplished much easier once they have seen a home and expressed an interest. If buyers are turned off by the signs, they may not even consider the area.

Just more food for thought. Your comments please!

No Rezone!

It seems that the message is clear and you would be pretty hard pressed to miss it if you live in the Country Club area. The interesting thing is the different views and stories one hears depending on who you talk to. It's like that game we played in 2nd grade called gossip, where one person passed a secret to the person behind them and so on. By the time the secret got to the end of the class it was so distorted it wasn't even close to the original.

There proponents and opponents. Each one either has an agenda or a reason to be against the agenda. In an effort to get everyone in the same ring, suppose the following occurred. Using one of the websites available, the opponents would list each concern. The concern would be something Scratch has proposed or a probable long-range affect. These concerns would be itemized and the responses from scratch be published in the same forum.

This would clear up mis-conceptions, (arguing over mis-conceived differences is a waste of time and keeps the real agenda at large), documents responses, introduces new concerns, and allows for a much more productive hearing when it occurs.

The difficult part would be developing the list of concerns. This could be done by joint meetings of HOAs, then posting the list on the web with an opportunity for all concerned to add or comment on the list. Once the list is published, it has to be given to Scratch with adequate time to respond. Then the responses need to be published. If this could be accomplished before the next hearing, the hearing would be much more productive.

Of course this is only a tactic and I would guess that many on both sides have gone beyond the first stage of tactics and are concentrating on strategies (next moves, anticipating the opponents next move, and counter measures).

Everything in this Blog may be a moot point, but its purpose is not to solve a problem but to provoke action and thought.

I'll be happy to post your comments.

Good Luck,

Bruce Howland