On Thursday, the Florida House passed a serious property tax cut measure with votes basically split along party lines.  The Florida Senate however is a bit more reluctant and odds are high that the bill will not pass there.

The House bill follows the proposal of House President Marco Rubio's Cut Property Taxes Now group of limiting property taxes to 1.35% of the taxable value as set by the county property appraiser.  This measure would be a major tax reduction for non-homestead properties including landlords, snowbirds, and businesses.  The House bill would also provide for a revenue cap on government at all levels both state and local thus putting a stop to nonsense like the Winter Springs fire assessment.  The bill would provide for an amendment that 60% of voters must decide upon this November, so whether it truly passes or not would be up to the citizens of Florida anyway.

Sources estimate that it will reduce property tax revenue by about 30%.  Considering that property tax revenues have more than doubled in the last 7 years, a 30% cut should do little damage to the government's budgets if they would just reduce there budgets back to what they had a few short years ago.

The Florida Senate does not want to act.  State and local governments are already crying over budget cuts, however as I have repeatedly pointed out in previous blogs there are literally hundreds of millions (and probably billions) of dollars being flushed down the toilet on a regular basis by our state and local governments and school boards.

For many examples of government waste read here:  Hey Florida, where did all that surplus tax money go? and County and city leaders abusing Florida's retirement program 

Amendment 1 gave tax relief to homesteaders. We need real tax relief immediately for non-homestead properties.  The Florida Senate is arrogantly thumbing their noses at its citizens.

If the Senate refuses to provide more relief to citizens (or at least give us the chance to vote on the issue), we need to thumb our noses back at them this November and fire many of its members.  Please put some pressure on your state Senators and help motivate them to vote yes on this bill.

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Rob Arnold, ABR, CPL, CRB, GRI, Managing real estate broker, Licensed mortgage broker, Notary Public

407-389-7318 / 1-877-389-7318    www.SDRhouses.com/   www.WeBuyHousesFlorida.com/

Your full service and investor friendly Realtor in Orlando. Learn to invest in Central Florida real estate and Orlando real estate. Investor mentoring and counseling available. I also provide flat fee MLS listings, For Sale By Owner, and menu-based services in most parts of Central & South Florida, the Space Coast, and the Treasure Coast including Orlando, Winter Park, Maitland, Ocoee, Winter Garden, Apopka, Altamonte Springs, Casselberry, Longwood, Winter Springs, Oviedo, Lake Mary, Sanford, Deltona, Debary, Deland, Mount Dora, Eustis, Clermont, Kissimmee, Winter Haven, Lakeland, Tampa, Sarasota, Bradenton, Miami-Dade, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, Port Saint Lucie, Melbourne, Daytona Beach, Ocala, Gainesville, Volusia, Brevard, and more.

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