Tax Bill Details Remain In Flux, Lawmakers Say

By CATHERINE DOLINSKI The Tampa Tribune

Published: Jun 5, 2007

TALLAHASSEE - House and Senate leaders want to ask voters on Jan. 29 to rewrite the state's tax code to deliver relief to property owners.

Just how much relief that will provide for which owners, and at what cost to local governments, remained unclear. With so many details of the evolving plan either undecided or under wraps, lawmakers adjourned their Monday meeting on tax reform early and agreed to meet once more, on the day before the special legislative session starts June 12.

House Speaker Marco Rubio and Senate President Ken Pruitt announced their agreement late last week to require local governments to cut property taxes this year based their "past taxing performance," meaning those that have boosted taxes the most would have to lower them more. The statutory fix would also cap local property tax revenue.

Following that, voterswould be asked in January to adopt a constitutional amendment that replaces the existing $25,000 flat homestead exemption and the Save Our Homes tax protection with a tiered, percentage-based "super" homestead exemption.

Existing homeowners who would benefit more under the current Save Our Homes benefit would have the option of keeping it instead of reverting to the new system. Three-fifths of lawmakers in both chambers will have to approve the ballot question, which must garner approval from 60 percent of voters for passage.

Taken together, the tax overhaul will amount to a "one-two punch of protection" for property owners, said Dean Cannon, House co-chairman of the joint committee on property tax reform.

Neither Cannon nor other legislative leaders revealed how deeply local governments would have to cut taxes, or how large the new super homestead exemption would be. Rubio also said Monday that some form of flat tax exemption for nonhomestead commercial property was "a goal," but not yet part of his agreement with the Senate.

House Minority Leader Dan Gelber, D-Miami Beach, stressed the need to share those details as soon as possible not only with all lawmakers, but with the public in time to allow home and business owners to assess the impact and respond.

"Speaker Rubio mentioned that he thought it might be possible that we could come in one day, vote and go home," Gelber said. "I can't imagine that we can go and vote before we hear from our constituents."

Rubio said after the meeting that such details would be forthcoming later this week. "You want to make sure that the measures do what we say it will do," he said.

Much of Monday's meeting centered on nonhomestead property issues such as tangible property tax rates for businesses and tax treatment of affordable housing. Lawmakers could also mandate larger homestead exemptions for low-income seniors, already an option at the local level.

Those topics generated little discussion, compared with the steady drumbeat of demands from lawmakers for more information. Most of the complaints came from Democrats, but even Senate Majority leader Daniel Webster expressed concern that failure to provide more detail prior to the special session could jeopardize its success.

Gov. Charlie Crist made an impromptu appearanceat Monday's meeting to thank lawmakers for their efforts. Afterward, he told reporters that lawmakers had made substantial progress, and that he was confident they would reach a solution.

Some in the audience were disappointed, such as paramedic Howard Levinson with Palm Harbor Fire Rescue, who caught a moment with the governor to stress the need for protecting funding of emergency services. "We work for the people, and we want to keep it that way," he said. "Right now, the outlook is bleak."

Reporter Catherine Dolinski can be reached at (850) 222-8382 or cdolinski@tampatrib.com.