TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - June 27, 2007 - Members of a constitutional commission reviewing Florida's tax structure should stay out of the debate over the Legislature's ballot issue on property tax relief even though they cannot ignore that subject, the panel's chairman said Tuesday.
Allan Bense urged colleagues on the Taxation and Budget Reform Commission to, instead, work quietly on possible alternatives if the tax-cutting amendment fails or enhancements if it passes. The measure goes before voters on the Jan. 29 presidential primary ballot.
"I think it's up to the people to approve," said the former Florida House speaker, but then he added, "We can't just put our heads in the sand."
The proposed state constitutional amendment is designed to slash taxes mainly for homeowners while fixing inequities in the property tax system.
Sponsored and supported by Republicans, the measure has drawn opposition from Democrats, local officials, labor unions and other critics who say it would cut too deeply into city, county and school board budgets. Some tax protesters, though, say it doesn't cut enough.
The commission, appointed by Gov. Charlie Crist and legislative leaders, also has the power to put amendments on the ballot or it can make recommendations to the Legislature.
Bense, a Panama City Republican, said it shouldn't jeopardize the legislative amendment but must look at property taxes in the meantime because its work has to be done by May 8, a little more than three months after the referendum.
"We don't need to wake up on Jan. 30, if in fact it doesn't pass, having done nothing," Bense said. "I don't think that's responsible."
Gulf Power Co. President and CEO Susan Story of Pensacola chairs the commission's Finance and Tax Committee and said it probably will prepare proposals for either scenario.
The amendment is the second of a two-part tax-cutting plan lawmakers passed during a three-day special session that ended June 14.
The first is a statutory provision that drew nearly unanimous, bi-partisan support. It did not need voter approval and was signed into law by Crist. That measure will roll back and cap local taxes, except for public schools.
Only one commission member, Lee County Property Appraiser Ken Wilkinson, told Bense he might have trouble keeping a low profile. Wilkinson, of Fort Myers, led a citizens initiative that added the Save Our Homes Amendment to the Florida Constitution in 1992.
It limits annual assessment increases on primary homes, known as homesteads, to 3 percent but has been blamed - unfairly Wilkinson insists - for shifting the tax burden to new home buyers and owners of second homes, businesses and rental properties.
The legislative amendment would phase out Save Our Homes in favor of a "super exemption" for homeowners although they could keep their existing benefits for the rest of their lives or until they move.
"I need to defend Save Our Homes," Wilkinson said after the meeting. "I'm very proud of it."
Wilkinson has acknowledged, though, it makes homeowners feel trapped because they lose their benefits if they move. He is leading another initiative called Save Our Homes Portability that would let them take at least part of those benefits with them.
Wilkinson said he hasn't yet decided whether to support the Legislature's amendment but that his group's board of directors is leaning toward ramping up its campaign. The petition deadline for the November 2008 election is Feb. 1, only three days after the presidential primary.
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Fred Griffin Real Estate - Tallahassee, FL
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Aug 01, 2016 11:48 AM
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