florida senate penny sales tax florida fund education ...more

March 25, 2009

Political Self-Interests The recent political witch hunt at the Tampa Sports Authority resulted in a good, competent man resigning from the agency he led for 12 years and served for 24. Henry Saavedra had no option but to resign, but the process by which he was forced out should leave all of us asking why and how. ...more

March 20, 2009

Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden says that paying higher taxes is the patriotic thing to do for wealthier Americans. ...more

September 18, 2008

When the state lowered its revenue predictions this spring, lawmakers chose not to renew the annual sales tax holiday on hurricane supplies this year. ...more

May 19, 2008

John McCain became the Republican presidential front-runner, and Florida homeowners got a smidgen of property tax relief, but the big winner in Tuesday's Florida primary may have been Gov. Charlie Crist. ...more

January 31, 2008

TEMPLE TERRACE – City officials are inviting residents to a town hall meeting on Thursday to address the property tax proposal Florida voters will be asked to consider on the presidential primary ballot this month. Mayor Joe Affronti, city council members and City Manager Kim Leinbach are scheduled to attend the 7 p.m. meeting at the Lightfoot Recreation Center, 10901 N. 56th St. ...more

January 21, 2008

SEBRING — Proposed tax relief for property owners could lead to budget woes for school districts if voters approve the doubling of the homestead exemption on Jan. 29. The tax relief plan also includes a tangible personal property exemption of $25,000 and a 10 percent cap on assessments for non-homestead property. In dollars for the School Board of Highlands County, it would represent an estimated loss of $1.4 million in 2008 or about 1 percent of the school district's general fund and 1 percent of the capital fund. "They [Legislature] said they are going to hold us harmless, but I don't see any other revenue stream that they are going to be able to replace it with, so obviously there's going to be an impact to schools." Highlands School District Assistant Superintendent of Business/Finance Mike Averyt said Monday. "If you try to cut a million dollars ... we're scraping to get the dollars to pay for teacher salaries and benefits and all those programs we have to operate to run this school district," he said, "So it is a significant problem that we are going to have to address if this thing passes." ...more

November 27, 2007

Regarding "Florida Needs Tax Reform, Not Tax Relief" (Other Views, Nov. 20): Former legislator Curt Kiser was right on target in his guest editorial. The proposed constitutional amendment to provide some relief to property owners does not fix the financial problems in our state. It is on the ballot solely to pacify the voters. This is the wrong approach. ...more

November 24, 2007

State House members approved a new rendition of their property tax proposal Monday, while the chamber across the Capitol remained dark without a guarantee of reopening this session. ...more

October 23, 2007

The state Senate approved a core tax-relief package Wednesday but sharply rebuked far-reaching proposals from the House, dimming lawmakers' hopes of leaving the Capitol with a property tax overhaul today. ...more

October 18, 2007