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Legislative Tax-Cut Plans Diverge

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By CATHERINE DOLINSKI and JEROME R. STOCKFISCH, The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 17, 2007

TALLAHASSEE - House committee members moved to dramatically expand the Legislature's property tax cut proposal Tuesday even as a Senate panel voted to scale it back, indicating that heavy negotiations are still in order if there is to be any agreement on a reform package.

The tug-of-war between the chambers dovetailed with mounting discord between Democrats and Republicans and even within the GOP, in which some conservatives decried proposed restrictions on local governments and financial hardships that would befall Florida's poorest counties if the plan became law.

But lawmakers in both parties acknowledged that much of Tuesday's drama was more posturing than policymaking, setting the stage for the real negotiations that will likely take place in a joint conference committee after each chamber casts final votes on their respective bills.

Legislative leaders had hoped for a final vote today or Thursday, and it wasn't clear whether that goal could be met. Questions for the Jan. 29 primary election ballot must be submitted by Oct. 29.

There is general agreement on the key provisions of the property tax proposal in both chambers: doubling the homestead exemption from the current $25,000 to $50,000, and providing portability of the Save Our Homes benefit that keeps taxable values artificially low. There also is general consensus on a 25 percent break in taxable value for first-time homebuyers.

All of those provisions would reduce revenue collected by cities, counties and special taxing districts, but not schools. That was the framework of a proposal from Gov. Charlie Crist after a judge threw out a property tax reform plan that came out of the Legislature in a June special session.

House members raised the stakes significantly Tuesday, first by proposing to expand the Save Our Homes tax protection to all properties, homestead or not. Then, late in the day, they resurrected a penny increase in the state sales tax to reduce local school taxes, an early idea in the property tax debate that never gained traction.

The plan would be worth about $4 billion the first year, according to co-sponsors Kevin Ambler, R-Tampa, and Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton.

House Minority Leader Dan Gelber dismissed the late-day amendment as posturing.

'It would be funny if the issue of property taxes wasn't so serious,' said Gelber, D-Miami Beach, adding later that House Democrats would likely block any effort by House leaders to roll the bills forward to final passage today. 'It's moving awfully fast.'

Council Debates Save Our Homes

In an unusual display of bipartisanship, the House Policy and Budget Council voted earlier Tuesday to expand Save Our Homes.

Rep. Ron Saunders, D-Key West, introduced the idea, asking lawmakers to cap future increases in valuation assessments on nonhomestead properties at 7 percent. Saunders argued that doing so would minimize inequities in the tax system.

The existing Save Our Homes benefit, a 3 percent cap on increases in valuation, applies only to homesteads and expires when the owner moves.

Republicans Stan Mayfield and Adam Hasner then upped the ante, proposing to cap assessment increases for all properties at 3 percent. Saunders and three other Democrats voted with the GOP for the expanded plan.

But some Democrats did not, arguing that they could not vote for such a staggering change in policy without information on its fiscal impact.

'There wasn't a single supporting document presented,' said Rep. Jack Seiler, D-Wilton Manors. 'So this council just basically made a $5 billion to $10 billion decision on, 'Well, it sounds good.''

Mayfield, R-Vero Beach, argued that the idea is not new.

'You all understand the impacts of this; it has huge and revolutionary impacts on our tax system. There's no doubt about it; you don't have to have the numbers in front of you. ... This is about making our tax system fair.'

Crist said Tuesday that he wasn't sure the House plan to expand Save Our Homes was appropriate action for the special session. But he declined to say whether he supported the strategy.

'The issue will be worked out,' Crist said. 'This is in the legislative arena. ... It's a long time until it gets to me.'

Committee Reduces Exemption

As the House panel adopted new tax relief ideas, the Senate Finance and Tax Committee voted to reduce a full property tax exemption for low-income seniors that would account for the lion's share of the full tax package's estimated $2 billion cut into school tax revenue over the next four years.

Sen. Lisa Carlton, R-Osprey, successfully proposed exempting only the first $100,000 of assessed value for low-income seniors, rather than a full free ride. That would limit the impact on schools to $1.2 billion.

Democrats on the committee voted in favor of that chamber's bill, with the qualification that changes be made by the time the legislation goes to the full Senate today.

'It is unlikely that if this is the final version of the bill that you would get Democratic support,' Sen. Steven Gellar, D-Cooper City, told committee chairman Mike Haridopolos.

That could be significant, because while Democrats are outnumbered in both chambers, they have enough votes to block the three-quarters required to put a constitutional amendment on a special election ballot.

Geller complained that the bill was getting too big and too complicated.

The committee did not consider providing Save Our Homes across the board, but Haridopolos, R-Indialantic, said 'nothing is dead on arrival.'

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

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