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Crist Stops By Tampa To Promote Property Tax Proposal

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By KEITH MORELLI | The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 31, 2007

TAMPA - Florida Gov. Charlie Crist believes the choice for voters who cast their ballots for or against tax reform in January is clear.

"If you want lower taxes, vote yes," Crist said from the front yard of an average-looking home in South Tampa on Wednesday afternoon. "If you want higher taxes, vote no."

The governor was on a whirlwind, two-day, eight-city tour trying to drum up support for his plan to lower property taxes in Florida. He was a half-hour late for a scheduled news conference in front of the two bedroom, one bath home owned by Stanley and Chantel Fields, a young couple who have 11-month-old twins. Stanley Fields said he is a perfect example of a taxpayer who will benefit from the proposed tax amendment.

Fields said he talked to Crist during a campaign stop last year and told him his wife was pregnant and the couple needed to get into a bigger house, but couldn't afford it because they would lose some exemptions. Crist remembered him and this week called to ask if he could hold the news conference on Fields' front lawn.

"He remembered us," Fields said. "He remembered our story."

If the proposed tax cuts are approved by voters in January, Fields said he will be able to afford a move to a larger home, taking with him some tax exemptions that he would lose under the current tax laws.

"We're a family of four in a two-bedroom house with just one bathroom," he said.

"The bathroom gets a little crowded," his wife said while the couple waited inside their home on the corner of Church and Inman avenues for the governor's arrival. "It's a small kitchen and small bathroom and we are constantly bumping into each other."

Crist's simplification of the proposed constitutional amendment struck a chord with the crowd of about 75 people, most of whom were news reporters, local dignitaries and politicians. To applause, Crist thanked Florida legislators for their support. He shook their hands and gave hugs to many of them.

"Who doesn't want a tax cut?" he asked. "This is what the people want."

The Florida Legislature voted Monday to place the tax issue on the Jan. 29 presidential primary ballot.

He said a reduction in property taxes will spur the state's economy because homeowners will have more cash on hand to spend and be able to upgrade their homes without losing exemptions. It is Reaganomics revisited, he said.

"Florida is like a thoroughbred and somebody's been holding the reins back," he said. "We want to loosen the reigns and let her run."

He brushed aside suggestions the proposal doesn't address some of the tax inequities, including disparities between taxes paid by longtime homeowners and taxes of those who are first-time homebuyers or new-home buyers moving from out-of-state.

He said tax reform is just getting started and he's not finished remodeling the tax structure in the state.

"We won't stop here," he said. "We just keep on going."

Under the existing laws, homeowners enjoy certain tax exemptions but if they move into another house they stand to lose some of those exemptions. Part of Crist's plan is to allow those exemptions to follow those people into their new homes. It's called "portability," he said.

The proposal also seeks to increase the existing $25,000 homestead exemption to $50,000. The existing $25,000 exemption would stand as is. The new exemption would apply when a home's value exceeds $50,000.

Critics say wholesale cutting of taxes is a complicated issue that was rammed through the Legislature without proper study and that tax reduction may appeal to the average taxpayer, but it doesn't address how the state will continue to pay for services.

Reporter Keith Morelli can be reached at (813) 259-7760 or kmorelli@tampatrib.com.

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