Support signifies abandonment of the super homestead
exemption
H-T
CAPITAL BUREAU TALLAHASSEE -- While saying
he is disappointed that more property taxes are not being cut, House Speaker
Marco Rubio embraced Gov. Charlie Crist's latest tax-cutting plan on Wednesday,
clearing the way for the Legislature to put the new proposal on the Jan. 29
presidential primary ballot.
With the Senate also backing the governor's plan, Rubio's endorsement formally
signifies the abandonment of a complicated super homestead exemption that
lawmakers put on the ballot, only to have it rejected by the courts.
It will be replaced by Crist's new plan, which focuses on doubling the $25,000
homestead exemption and allowing homeowners to transfer a portion of the Save
Our Homes savings when they move.
The House and Senate are expected to vote on the new constitutional amendment,
which must be endorsed by 60 percent of the voters, as early as next Wednesday,
after extending their current special session that dealt with cutting $1.1
billion from the state budget.
While endorsing Crist's plan, Rubio also advanced a half-dozen other property
tax breaks. The most significant is the elimination of all property taxes for
low-income senior citizens, defined as someone 65 or older who has a household
income of less than $24,214 a year. The Senate is backing a similar package.
In total, the governor's tax plan -- including the Legislature's additions --
should save property owners about $11 billion over the next four years -- which
was well short of the super exemption, which would have saved about $16
billion.
But Rubio said that was the best lawmakers could do given "the
realities" of opposition from the Democrats, who had enough votes to block
a ballot issue they did not like, and the Oct. 29 deadline of trying to put a
new issue on the presidential primary ballot.
"There are a lot of things to vote for," Rubio said about the new
package. "But that being said, there is clearly going to be disappointment
about the level of cuts for the individual."
He noted that homeowners, on average, would only save about $214 a year by
doubling the homestead exemption to $50,000.
"There isn't going to be any celebration about that," Rubio said.
The tax cuts also bear little resemblance to Rubio's ambitious plan to
eliminate all property taxes for homeowners and replace them with a 2.5 cent
increase in the state sales tax. And although that proposal never gained much
support outside the House, Rubio said the effort to cut property taxes would
continue after the Jan. 29 vote.
He said lawmakers could take up more proposals in their regular session next
spring; he also suggested that the state Taxation and Budget Reform Commission
could take up some issues or others could advance citizens' initiative to
further cut taxes.
"There's still a lot more to do," Rubio said.
Senate Democratic Leader Steve Geller, D-Hallandale Beach, was one of Crist's
top advisers in the tax negotiations. He said Wednesday that he would support
Rubio's additional cuts as long as that ended the tax-cutting rhetoric for next
year.
"There are other issues in this state," Geller said.
Geller added that Rubio's theatrical protest that Floridians would be disappointed
in the tax cut was misplaced.
"I think certain politicians that are trying to make careers out of
showing they are tax cutters are going to be disappointed," he said in a
shot at Rubio. Geller said that the Save Our Homes portability option alone
would "cut off half of the complaints" from the public about property
taxes in the state.
Aside from Rubio's critique, others point to some shortcomings in the final tax
package. It does little for commercial property owners, other than offering
them a $500 a year tax break on office equipment and other property, and it
retains the Save Our Homes cap, which limits assessment increases to 3 percent
a year and has caused wide disparities in how similar homes are valued in the
state.
Senate Republican Leader Dan Webster, R-Winter Garden, said next week's vote
would provide a good tax cut for the middle class, but would also represent a
missed opportunity to end the Save Our Homes trap, which benefits residents at
the expense of part-time homeowners, renters and businesses.
"It is a policy that has seen its day," said Webster, who added that
lawmakers cannot phase out Save Our Homes because the public is "just not
interested in doing it. I think we tried."
Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, said it was simply time to do something
after more than a year of tax-cutting talk.
"What I'm hearing from my constituents is they want some action," he
said. "Anything is better than what they're getting right now, which is
nothing."
In the House, Democratic Leader Dan Gelber, D-Miami Beach, said that the
decision to exempt public schools from the tax cuts made it likely his party's
members would approve the plan.
He acknowledged that it would not solve everyone's concerns, but seemed puzzled
at Rubio's antipathy.
"Leadership can't bad-mouth the proposal and endorse it
simultaneously," Gelber said.
Gelber added that in Tallahassee, no deal is complete until the final vote.
"As any parachutist will tell you, the end is the tricky part," he
said.