I attended a meeting of my local HOA in Weston. One of Weston's commissioner's was there who explained to the best of his understanding the lawsuit filed by Mayor Eric Hirsch.
For the full story in the Sun Sentinel, click here.
According to the commissioner, the lawsuit went straight to the Florida Supreme Court and has been kicked back to the lower courts -- i.e., the Circuit Court of Leon County. All are on vacation at this time; however, a Notice of Appearance has been filed on behalf of the State government. (You can access the docket but not the actual documents filed.)
The Mayor's issues are (paraphrased, of course):
1. Municipalities have a constitutional right to charge up to 10 mils; therefore, to ask a municipality to roll the taxes back to the proposed point is unconstitutional. According to the numbers, the homeowners would only save a whopping $16 off property taxes annually.
2. The wording on the ballot was misleading to the people in general. It is stated that each homeowner would be entitled to a $50,000 tax exemption.
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The Commissioner went on to say that depending upon how long you have lived in your home and the formulas that are on various websites, www.bcpa.net for example, should aid the homeowner in his decision of staying with his old plan or opting for the new super exemption.
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The named Plaintiff is the Mayor himself and the Mayor, in his capacity of Mayor of Weston; however, the City of Weston is not a named party.
We will have to see how the Circuit Judge rules in this matter, the Mayor may get summaried out and then appeal to a higher court. Not having any real knowledge of the lawsuit and the grounds thereof, it is hard for me to even guess about it. In any event, the Mayor will get some attention from the Governor or Governor's counsel -- however, it is strange to me that I have not seen any of the other Mayors join him in this fight -- especially if other municipalities may be affected in the same manner as Weston (formed in 1996).
If you check the millage rate of Weston, it is certainly lower than most of the other municipalities. Check out www.bcpa.net.
I hope that I am reporting this correctly -- my intent is to never misinform or misquote anyone.
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