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Cows Provide Supervisor With A Tax Break

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 5, 2008

Saving Old Florida

Regarding "Cattle Call Cuts Johnson's Taxes" (Metro, June 28):

Kudos to Hillsborough County Elections Supervisor Buddy Johnson for making his land available for agricultural use. While developers are paving the state with asphalt, Johnson is making his land available to the cows.

Certainly he should take advantage of "greenbelt" for tax purposes; this is why we have such laws. He is still paying a lot of taxes on vacant land.

JIM BARKER

Tampa

Leave Johnson Alone

Regarding "A Tax Break Till Cows Go Home" (Our Opinion, July 1):

I have absolutely no personal interest in Elections Supervisor Buddy Johnson's success or failure. But I am wondering why the Editorial Board of the Tribune apparently has an axe to grind against him.

Saturday there was a "teaser" on the front page and a headline in the local section. This sort of "news" has been going on for some time, simply because he applied for a real estate tax exemption that I'm sure many others have applied for and received.

I've read many Tribune articles regarding this "scandal." I would think Saturday's article should have been headlined "The property appraiser's office cleared Buddy Johnson of any wrongdoing regarding his application for a property tax exemption that was legal and ethical in every respect."

Frankly, I think an apology is in order.

JACK BAYTOS

Sun City Center

Very Expensive Cows
Eleven cows cut appraised value $697,607 to $137,459 or a $560,148 cut in assessment for cows on rental property.

A homestead exemption gets a $25,000 cut in assessed value. Any rental exemption is a zero cut in assessed value. One cow exemption is worth $50,923 cut in assessed value.

Need I say more? Maybe we should start raising cows on our homesteads instead of dogs and cats? Wake up and smell the cow!

KEITH BUCKHOLD

Riverview

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