2012 is a busy year for the Florida ballot. In addition to all the candidates running for various offices, there are 11 proposed constitutional amendments on the ballot this November. You can read the full text of these amendments at this link to the Florida Division of Elections website.
The purpose of my article is to give a basic overview on the amendments and provide my thoughts on the pros/cons with each of them. Hopefully it will help you in your decision making. My general opinion it is best to not muddy up the Florida Constitution any more than necessary. Some amendments are so specific and so partisan that they really should just be a statute that is easier to repeal as opposed to a constitutional amendment that is much more difficult to repeal. So here goes for the first 4 on the ballot.
2012 proposed amendments:
Amendment 1 - Health Insurance - This is in response to the federal Affordable Care Act. It was obviously partisan and meant to exempt Florida citizens from any state mandate requiring them to buy health insurance. The federal law that was recently upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court trumps this amendment (federal always trumps state laws), so in my opinion this amendment would not do any good unless the Florida legislature tried to impose its own state mandate. This amendment basically became a moot point after the decision from the Supreme Court.
Amendment 2 - Disabled Veterans Tax Exemption - This is one of those muddy the Constitution amendments. However there is already an amendment that was passed a few years ago giving some veterans a property tax exemption. This amendment simply expands an exemption given to wounded veterans who were Florida residents when they signed up for military service. The new exemption would be expanded to include all wounded veterans which is estimated at an additional 70,000 Floridians. Sounds like a nice break to give our war heroes even if it costs the state some tax revenue.
Amendment 3 - Revenue Caps - Tightens up the state budget to limit money collected to the previous year plus an adjustment based on population growth and the inflation rate. Excess money would be transferred into the "budget stabilization fund" , used to pay for public schools/education, or refunded to the taxpayers. Florida has had a revenue limitation on the books for nearly 20 years now but this amendment would make things even tighter. I'm a big proponent of government belt tightening and tax limitations but this law seems awfully restrictive especially in a down economy. Best to be careful what you wish for.
Amendment 4 - Property Tax Exemptions - This is the big baby of the Florida Association of Realtors. This is a further extension of Amendment 1 which was passed back in 2008 and is a revival of another amendment that did not make it on the ballot in 2010. It makes several changes to the property tax laws - see details below. This would greatly complicate the property tax exemptions in my mind - starting to remind me of the current IRS income tax laws. It would also have a sizable impact on state revenues.
(1) It reduces the assessed value increase on non-homestead property to 5% per year and extends that cap out to year 2023 (currently non-homestead properties are capped at an increase of 10% per year). This would be retroactive to January 1, 2012.
(2) If a property value decreases it would eliminate the possibility that your property tax bill would actually increase as a result of the Save Our Homes laws. Current law allows assessed value to increase 3% per year even if the actual just value goes down - many people complained that they should not pay more taxes each year when their value keeps going down - hopefully prices are on the rise now. This would go into effect January 1, 2013.
(3) It gives first-time homebuyers (people who have not bought a Florida home in the last 3 years) an additional homestead exemption up to a maximum of $150,000 but phased out over 5 years. The 5 year phase out is meant to supposedly level the playing field and give first-time buyers an exemption similar to the Save Our Homes exemption for longer-term owners. This would go into effect January 1, 2013.
You can read Part 2 of this series at this link. Make sure to vote on November 6, 2012.
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