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The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 20, 2008

Regarding "Weighing Your Options" (front page, Jan. 13):

It took only one statement from your article plus item one on my sample ballot for me as well as thousands of voters to become confused on this issue.

Tribune statement: "Who loses: schools."

Sample ballot: "Does not apply to school district."

And that is just one statement! No wonder we are between a rock and a hard place.

JOSEPH OATES

Seffner

Placating Voters

After reading the article regarding property taxes, I sincerely hope that Florida citizens vote "no." Although the Florida Association of Realtors has campaigned and is encouraging Florida Realtors to vote "yes," I as a Florida Realtor am voting "no."

I feel like the Legislature is treating us like little children, patting us on the head with a very poor half-measure and telling us to go play while the grown-ups talk with promises to come up with something better later. We need to shake them up and vote "no" on these weak solutions because they are placating us.

NANCY OTTEN

Tampa

Short-Term Solution

Regarding "If Voters Kill Tax Amendment True Reform Will Be Revived" (Our Opinion, Jan. 14):

The state should scrap their hard-to-understand amendment and substitute your "plain English" explanation. I voted for "Save our Homes," but I will not be voting for this ill-conceived attempt to make good on a campaign promise.

The Legislation had it right last June: phase out Save our Homes over time. If they can't write it clear enough to understand, just call the Trib next time for some help!

My business would benefit in the short term if this amendment were to pass, but I'm interested in the long-term future of our state.

GARY C. BROWN

Tampa

Unequal Tax Burden

There are two identical houses next door to each other. They are equally appraised. One Florida resident pays $2,300 in real estate taxes; the other resident pays $5,800. The only difference is the closing date. If the constitutional revision does not correct this gross inequity, why should it be approved? Why does Gov. Charlie Crist endorse penalizing long-term residents who moved across town during the last five years?

CHARLIE LOWREY

Ruskin

What Is Fair?

Although the Tribune has asked folks to vote "no" on the amendment, I would like you to consider something I haven't seen mentioned.

The primary argument seems to be that it makes the tax system even more unfair than it is now. That may be, but then, what is fair?

For a long time the impact fees for residential and commercial construction have not come close to paying for the infrastructure that the developers have demanded. Those of us benefiting from Save Our Homes have had to pay all these costs. New folks will eventually qualify for these same discounts. Maybe this just makes the total costs fairer.

EDWIN STEVENS

New Port Richey

Tricky Language

Before you vote yes on the alleged property tax reform amendment, find a ballot and read this part of it:

"b. Provides for homestead exemptions to be repealed if a future constitutional amendment provides for assessment of homesteads 'at less than just value' rather than as currently provided 'at a specified percentage' of just value."

Why is this in there? Is there some plan to trick us into voting on some future amendment that will strip all homestead exemptions away? They give us a little more exemption for a bit, all the while setting us up to lose it and what we had before? No thanks.

I am a homeowner, not some real estate speculator who is choking on the tax bills from my investment properties. I'll keep my hand on my wallet and my homestead and vote "no."

THOMAS SARSFIELD

Valrico

SOH Still Needed

Regarding "Shortchanging Tax Reform" (Commentary, Jan. 13):

Here we go again, railing against "Save Our Homes." None other than Frank Morsani, a justifiably well-respected citizen of our community, suggests that Save Our Homes is patently unfair. He says, "What is fair about two homeowners living side by side, both households with the same income, in identical houses, one paying $2,000 a year in taxes and one paying $6,000?"

My answer is that the devil is in the details.

SOH passed because long-time Florida residents were being assessed taxes they could not afford because their incomes had not kept up with the inflationary rise in home values. Nothing has changed. If anything, that disconnect has gotten worse.

I wonder how many of those who benefit most from SOH could actually afford to purchase their home at today's prices. Is it equitable to force long-time residents from their homes because they can't afford their taxes? It wasn't in the '90s and it isn't today.

RANDALL STACK

Tampa

Raise Exemption

The homestead exemption was created back when the average price home was around $75,000. The $25,000 exemption was one-third the value of the average home and should have risen with the price of the average home. Instead now we face this conundrum which has everyone up in arms.

I believe the average price of a home now is near $300,000 and therefore, a fair exemption should be $100,000 at this point in time.

NICOLE SHERWOOD

Apollo Beach

The writer is president of Sterling Bay Homes.

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