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Tax Cuts ‘Good News’ For Floridians
TALLAHASSEE -- Today is a great day for Florida’s homeowners. The great Florida Legislature has given the people the opportunity to create a historic $12 billion property-tax cut. This tax relief is in addition to the $15 billion tax cut passed earlier this summer. Together, they add up to $27 billion in property-tax cuts over five years. I believe Florida’s homeowners will agree – that’s good news for Floridians.
Lt. Governor Kottkamp and I visited today with homeowners who will benefit from this additional property tax relief. In Tallahassee, Jacksonville, Orlando and Port St. Lucie, we heard how people have felt locked in their homes because of skyrocketing property taxes. This is the same message I have heard as I travel throughout the state.
All over this state, retirees and “empty nesters” have been reluctant to buy smaller homes. Growing families have held back on buying bigger homes. People have lost the freedom to make the most basic choices about their lives because of high property taxes. Now, with this tax cut, if you want to move to another home, you will be able to take your tax savings with you. The transfer, or portability, of Save Our Homes will cut the assessed value of your new homestead – in many cases, by about half, depending on how long you have lived in your current home.
In addition to helping homeowners who want to move, others will benefit, too. Doubling the homestead exemption will help everyone. Businesses will receive a new $25,000 exemption for tangible personal property, which will create an even better bottom line for our state. People who own second homes will be able to better predict property-tax costs because their property taxes will never increase by more than 10 percent.
The tax-cut package put together by the Legislature is a good one that will help jumpstart Florida’s housing market and make Florida even more business friendly. Their work ensures that you – the people of Florida – will have the opportunity to lower property taxes even more. You have the opportunity to vote three months from today – on January 29th. Now, the choice is up to you.
Usually when we hold a signing ceremony, a bill becomes law. However, the legislation I signed today is different. Instead of creating a law, it gives you the choice to cut property taxes. I congratulate the Legislature for their bold leadership and determination to pass property-tax cuts. However, what they have done represents only the first step. The power to cut property taxes is now in your hands. Today is a great day for you, people of Florida – our bosses, but your approval of additional tax cuts could make January 29th an even better day.
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Floridians Need Property Tax Relief
TALLAHASSEE -- The greatness of our nation’s democracy relies on participation from all of its elected representatives. As we have worked this week to cut property taxes for our bosses – the people of Florida, we have had great input from both the House and the Senate, from both Republicans and Democrats.
As a result, there is much agreement between the Senate and the House, thanks to the work of Representative Dean Cannon and Senator Dan Webster, whom I call the Dynamic Duo from Central Florida. They are leading property tax discussions with integrity and with honor.
I am encouraged by my discussions with Senate President Ken Pruitt and House Speaker Marco Rubio, as well as with Senator Steve Geller, Representative Dan Gelber and Representative Curtis Richardson. I am impressed with their intelligence, experience and great ability to articulate. They are not only concerned about Florida’s homeowners, but also about Florida’s schools and about Florida’s poorer counties.
Interestingly, the House, Senate and I agree on most parts of the plan to cut property taxes. That means both Republicans and Democrats, and House and Senate members agree on several basic principles.
We agree on the portability of the Save Our Homes savings. This tax cut will help growing families who need larger homes, and it will also help empty nesters and retirees downsizing from larger homes.
We agree on doubling the current $25,000 homestead exemption. During the past five years, property taxes have skyrocketed, and the current tax cut is no longer enough. Florida’s property owners need more relief.
We agree on giving first-time home buyers a tax discount so that they can afford to participate in the American dream of homeownership. We also agree on creating savings for low-income seniors, affordable housing and businesses.
We are on the verge of historic tax cuts, but it is not a touchdown until we cross the goal line. We must honor our bosses – the people of Florida – by getting the ball into the end zone. We must focus on getting property-tax relief to the people of Florida and putting a clear plan before them for their approval in January. Our bosses are waiting, and we owe it to them to make good on our promises and deliver relief.
Charlie Crist is the governor of Florida. http://www.flgov.com/
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Crist: Floridians Deserve Property Tax Relief
“Property taxes will drop, as long as the people exercise their right to vote on January 29th.” – Gov. Crist
TALLAHASSEE -- Last year, I traveled across our great state listening to the people of Florida. I heard from men, women, young and old of the burden Florida’s property taxes have on the American Dream. As your Governor, I have made property tax relief a priority of my Administration.
Today, 18 million Floridians rely on my commitment to protecting their ability to achieve the American Dream. I want each and every one of you to know that we are working hard everyday to do just that. We will not give up and we will not allow the burden of government spending to shatter that dream.
Floridians across our state have received TRIM notices from their local property appraiser. Based on these estimates, some Floridians have experienced relief while others have expressed concern that their tax rate has not decreased. Help is on the way.
Thanks to the tremendous work of the Florida Legislature, led by Senate President Ken Pruitt and House Speaker Marco Rubio, one of the greatest cries of the people of our state was heard this year and the work of providing property tax relief began.
In June, they passed and I signed a two-part property tax cut package aimed at bringing the relief that Floridians need and deserve. The first part of this legislation rolls tax rates back to last year’s levels – relief that many taxpayers will see this year. This roll back was just the first-step.
The final decision lies with the people of Florida. On January 29, 2008, Floridians have the power to cut their taxes even more. Voters will be able to vote on a constitutional amendment that will affect their property taxes in 2008. Current Save Our Homes and $25,000 exemptions may be replaced with an exemption equal to 75% of the first $200,000 of the homes value.
I am an optimist. In recent days, skepticism has begun to distract the focus at hand. Property taxes will drop, as long as the people exercise their right to vote on January 29th.
Here in Tallahassee and around the state, we will continue to work hard everyday. We will stand our ground and we will hold our resolve that Floridians need and deserve property tax relief. We will do our part and I encourage you to do yours by voting to cut your taxes on January 29th.
Together, we can preserve the American Dream.
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Item One: Reduce Insurance Costs
TALLAHASSEE -- Skyrocketing property insurance costs are a real threat to our citizens. Some of our families are no longer able to afford their homes, are spending down their retirement to keep a roof over their head, and are leveraging their children’s future to keep food on the table.
From South Florida to Tampa Bay and from the Panhandle to the Space Coast, citizens are crying out for help. Everywhere I go, I hear from Floridians that insurance premiums are taking more from their wallets; diminishing bit by bit our opportunity to enjoy what Florida has to offer.
One of those Floridians is Guinevive Kilgore, an 83 year old, African-American widow from Pensacola. Guinevive told us that her property insurance this year climbed from a thousand dollars a year to more than five thousand dollars.
As the Legislature convenes this week, we must come together, not as Democrats or Republicans, but as Floridians to provide relief to Guinevive and the rest of our citizens. Item one on our agenda must be to reduce the burden on our people from the spiraling costs of property insurance.
I am optimistic that affordable property insurance will become a reality and we will find a solution to this insurance crisis. I applaud House Speaker Marco Rubio and Senate President Ken Pruitt for taking bold steps to establish meaningful and broad-based insurance rate cuts.
Working together, in a bi-partisan fashion, we will provide substantial relief for Floridians and come together for the greater good of our citizens. Floridians are counting on us.
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Restore Ex-Offender’s Civil Rights After Debt ‘Fully Repaid’
TALLAHASSEE -- Our Founding Fathers set forth in the Declaration of Independence that “…all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” To secure these rights, we, the people, created our government.
When a citizen breaks the law, he or she has taken something from society, so we view punishment as the repayment of that debt. The debt is paid by serving jail or prison time, probation, and paying restitution to the victims of the crime. And like any debt, once the citizen has fully repaid, he or she should be afforded the opportunity, except where the most heinous of crimes have been committed, to re-enter society with the same rights the citizen had before breaking the law.
That is the way the system should work, and that is the way it does work in 45 of our 50 states. Unfortunately in five states – Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Kentucky, and Florida – we do not restore civil rights to those who have broken the law once they have paid their debt in full.
Why is Florida among only five states that do not automatically restore civil rights? Like Florida, many southern states struggling through the Jim Crow era resisted calls to change their laws denying the restoration of civil rights . Since then, all but five of these states have realized the historical underpinning for denying the restoration of civil rights and repealed these unjust laws.
Some who favor the current system argue that restoring civil rights is somehow “weak on crime,” as if restoring the right to vote, to serve on a jury or to work lessens the punishment or encourages a person to commit new crimes. In fact, the opposite should be true. Giving a person a meaningful way to re-enter society, make a living and participate in our democracy will incentivize good behavior. Moreover, there is no historical record in states that have restored civil rights to argue that restoration has increased crime.
Thankfully, crime in Florida is at an all time 35-year low, and no state has been tougher on crime than we have. For more than a decade, we have fought to ensure criminals are held accountable for their actions through strict sentencing. As a state Senator, I sponsored the bill that brought chain gangs back to Florida and sponsored the landmark “Stop Turning Out Prisoners” Act to require criminals to serve at least 85 percent of their sentences.
This year, through the passage of the Anti-Murder Act, we will require violent felony offenders who violate probation to remain in jail until a judge finds they no longer pose a danger to the community. Violent criminals who abuse the privilege of probation will not be given the opportunity to prey on Florida’s citizens.
The ultimate goal of these laws is justice. Those who do not abide by the laws of our land pay a tough penalty for doing so, and they should. But once they have paid their debt, society should honor its part of the bargain and allow citizens to re-enter society and enjoy the rights granted by our Creator. To not do so is more than reckless or irresponsible, it is unjust. As Abraham Lincoln reminded the nation in his Second Inaugural Address, your elected representatives should govern with "malice toward none, and charity for all.”
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Crist: Safety Of Floridians Important
Anti-Murder Act empowers “judges to keep violent offenders who break the terms of their probation off the street.” -- Gov. Crist
TALLAHASSEE -- Nothing is more important than protecting the safety of every Floridian. Even with the crime rate in Florida at a 35-year low, there is still much work to be done. Florida has already lost too many people, too early in their lives.
The brutal murders of Carlie Brucia, Jessica Lunsford, Sarah Lunde, and the six young people in Deltona – Erin Belanger, Franciso Roman, Jonathan Gleason, Roberto Gonzalez, Michelle Nathan and Anthony Vega – remind us that we cannot continue to permit violent felony offenders to walk the streets if they have violated the terms of their probation.
We cannot wait for a crime to happen before taking action. Anti-murder legislation will keep violent offenders who break the terms of their probation in jail until a judge finds they do not pose a danger to the community. These violent criminals would no longer be able to prey on Florida’s citizens.
I have proposed nearly $22 million in my budget for the Anti-Murder Act. These funds would provide the day-to-day costs of housing about 124 additional inmates, as well as provide more prison space and additional correctional employees. The anticipated three-year cost is $161.9 million.
It is surprising to me that many reports about the Anti-Murder Act incorrectly state its impact. More probation violators would be sentenced to more prison time; therefore, my budget recommendations allow for an increase in the number of inmates. Contrary to many reports, no additional costs to county jails are predicted because these offenders are generally not being released now. However, not every violator is being held.
Consider Carlie Brucia’s case. Four months prior to her brutal murder, her killer had a positive drug test. I have seen repeated media accounts that focus only on a later violation – his failure to pay fines. Clearly, anti-murder legislation, along with a zero-tolerance of probation violations, would have forced Carlie’s killer to stand before a judge. After reviewing the offender’s case, the judge could have sent him back to prison if he were considered a danger to the community.
By empowering judges to keep violent offenders who break the terms of their probation off the street, Florida will be safer. The families of those who have lost their lives would agree.
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‘Big Plays’ By Legislature Will Benefit Floridians
During the June special legislative session, your “stories remind us that we must be vigilant to lower property taxes – and lower them significantly.” – Gov. Crist
TALLAHASSEE -- Just as Monday morning quarterbacks review every play, the people of Florida – supporters, critics and political writers, alike – are now reviewing the work of the 2007 Legislature. To recap, there were several “big plays” that will make Florida’s economy more vibrant, strengthen our schools and our criminal justice system, and improve the health of both Floridians and Florida’s natural environment and much more.
The Anti-Murder Act will make our communities safer by giving judges the authority to impose the maximum prison sentences for probation violators considered dangerous. It will also require brutal felony offenders who violate probation to return to jail until the court determines whether the individual poses a danger to the community. A stronger CyberCrime unit will add 50 law enforcement officers to help stop predators and sex offenders before they prey on our children.
We made further progress in making property insurance more affordable. Citizens Property Insurance Corporation rates are now frozen until 2009, and consumers will now be able to buy less-expensive insurance from Citizens. No new “pup” companies will be allowed in Florida, and existing “pup” companies will have to report their national profits when filing for rate increases. We will remain vigilant and hold the industry’s feet to the fire and make sure that companies pass relief on to Florida homeowners when the new rates come out this summer.
Thanks to the Legislature, our teachers and schools will be better equipped to foster academic success and lifelong learning by having 80 more reading coaches. These coaches will guide more teachers in how to help students develop strong reading skills. Virtual tutors will give parents the tools they need to help their own children do better in school. Top teachers and other educators will be rewarded for improving student learning. Students will be better equipped for success in school, in our economy and in life.
Children and adults of all ages will learn how to gain the advantages of a more healthy life. The Florida Department of Health will now be headed by the State Surgeon General – Secretary of Health Dr. Ana Viamonte Ros, who will serve as the leading advocate for wellness and disease prevention. Regular physical education for elementary school students will help children understand at an early age that health, fitness and active living are fun and have a positive influence on learning. I have also appointed a Council on Physical Fitness to develop a state plan of action to promote physical fitness and nutrition for all Floridians. Children will also benefit by having the opportunity to live in a loving, safe and permanent home as we encourage adoption through the Office of Adoption and Child Protection.
Florida’s economy will be stronger because we have enhanced Florida’s business friendly environment. We will be able to attract more high-wage businesses to Florida and strengthen Florida’s film and entertainment industry, as well as significantly strengthened our ability to provide incentives to high-impact, innovative businesses through $320 million in incentives.
The health of Florida’s natural environment will also be strengthened. I applaud the Legislature for appropriating $100 million for our restoration efforts of the Florida Everglades, $54 million for Lake Okeechobee, $40 million for the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie estuaries and $16.5 million for the St. Johns River. Investments in the health of our natural environment protect Florida’s economy and quality of life and safeguard our natural beauty for future generations.
Florida voters will have an election system we can believe in. Florida will continue to lead the way in election reform by having a paper trail for votes cast in Florida elections. An earlier presidential primary will put Florida in its rightful place – near the front of the line in determining the next leader of the free world.
I am especially proud of the opportunity I had to stand strong and to do the right thing – by restoring the civil rights for certain ex-offenders who have paid their debt to society and by providing just compensation to the family of Martin Lee Anderson for the loss of their young son. These two actions stand as witness to my desire to listen to the needs of the people of Florida, and to stand for what is right.
In the same way, I am confident that the two consumer advocates – former Senator Nancy Argenziano and Nathan Skop – appointed to the Public Service Commission will also stand for what is right for the people of Florida.
We have accomplished many great things for the people of Florida – our bosses – but we still have much work to do. The Legislature will return to Tallahassee in a few weeks to finish the business of lowering property taxes. I remain optimistic that this tax reduction will happen this year – and that Floridians will get relief. While I understand the need to bring relief to the people sooner than later, I would rather we take the time to get it right in June – instead of rushing the process and not getting it right.
I am committed to listening to your needs as we prepare for the special session on property taxes. Your letters, e-mails and stories remind us that we must be vigilant to lower property taxes – and lower them significantly.
We will keep our eyes on the ball to make another big play for the people of Florida.
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Floridians Suffering From Skyrocketing Property Taxes
“As an old quarterback, I know that the best way to score touchdowns is through team effort.”
TALLAHASSEE -- In football terms, the Florida Legislature is entering into the final minutes of the fourth quarter. Just eight short weeks ago, House Speaker Marco Rubio, Senate President Ken Pruitt and the rest of the Legislature first traveled to Tallahassee to address our state’s most pressing issues, including how the state’s budget – the people’s money – will be spent.
I applaud their hard work and tireless dedication and thank them for giving me the opportunity to sign into law the Anti-Murder Act and bonuses for our hard working teachers. I also applaud them for their work throughout the special session in January to begin lowering property insurance rates. While insurance rates are moving in the right direction, we must remain vigilant and keep the pressure on the insurance industry to continue lowering rates. And we must relieve the second financial burden on homeowners, renters and businesses – crushing property taxes.
As an old quarterback, I know that the best way to score touchdowns is through team effort. A good quarterback hands the ball off to his teammates so they can carry the ball down the field and bring home a touchdown. In the same way, I called a play this week that can lower property taxes and passed it off to my friends in the House and Senate. Now, it is up to them to score the winning touchdown for the people of Florida by rolling back property taxes and putting a constitutional amendment before the voters of Florida this year. My plan would lower property taxes by 12 percent this year, 21 percent next year and up to 33 percent if a homeowner took advantage of homestead portability. These are real savings that would help our struggling families and seniors.
People all across our great state have shared with me how they are suffering under the burden of skyrocketing property taxes. People like Eduardo from Palm Beach County told me through his sign language interpreter how he plans to get married later this year and move to a different condo that allows children, but is trapped due to soaring property taxes. People like Jeanette from West Palm Beach wrote me about how property taxes are taking a huge chunk out of her family’s budget as they support themselves primarily on her husband’s firefighter salary. We must answer their cries for help before it is too late.
As the final minutes are ticking down, I am confident the Legislature will do the right thing and bring relief to the people of Florida and lower property taxes. We must free homeowners trapped in their homes and restore the American dream of home ownership in Florida.
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“We Must Live Within Our Means”
TALLAHASSEE - Since I took the oath of office 143 days ago, I have spoken often about fiscal responsibility and tightening our belts. There is no doubt about it: This is a tight budget year, and we must live within our means – just as the families of Florida must live within theirs. Gas prices, property taxes and property insurance rates are high, and we need to bring relief to Floridians.
I applaud the Legislature for providing me a responsible, fiscally sound budget. As I carefully considered each item they proposed, I remembered that we are spending the hard-earned money of the people of Florida , and that we have a responsibility to spend it wisely.
The $71.5-billion budget I signed today contains increased funding for public schools, continues our investment in restoring America ’s Everglades and helps make Florida ’s communities safer. It is a fiscally responsible budget that sets aside $7 billion in reserves.
Even in this tight budget year, we have accomplished many great things for the people of Florida . We are meeting the critical needs of our state and prudently protecting taxpayer dollars. We must protect their money because the people of Florida are suffering from skyrocketing property insurance rates, soaring property taxes and spiraling gas prices.
To bring relief, we are asking local governments to tighten their belts, and we are leading by example by tightening our belts, too. To help protect the people of Florida, I am vetoing $459 million of projects. This is the most immediate relief we can give our citizens. It honors the fact that people across our state are pinching pennies.
Cutting items from the budget doesn’t necessarily mean the items are without merit. It simply means we have to live within our means. It is incumbent upon the Lt. Governor and me to plan for a rainy day, and we are tightening our belts and doing just that.
I applaud the Legislature for how they have presented this budget – 99 percent of it is great. I know the Legislature is simply looking out for the interests of their constituents, but I have to look out for the interests of our entire state.
May God bless and protect the Great State of Florida.
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Crist: National Catastrophe Fund Will Protect All Taxpayers
Creating a national catastrophe fund that is funded privately by insurance company revenues will protect taxpayers in every state.
TALLAHASSEE -- Policymakers from around the country – governors, members of Congress and state legislators – are coming to recognize that an integrated program of catastrophe preparedness and protection must be a national priority, every bit as important as homeland security, environmental protection or any of our other long-recognized national priorities.
The Southern Governors’ Association, whose members include 17 Governors from Maryland to Puerto Rico, from Oklahoma to Florida, unanimously approved a resolution I offered calling for the creation of a national catastrophe protection program that includes mitigation and other preparation efforts as well as the establishment of a fiscally sound and responsible reinsurance fund that would stand behind state-run funds like the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund.
State legislatures in nearly a dozen states, not only in the typical hurricane alley of the Gulf, but in places like New York, New Jersey and Missouri, are actively considering the creation of state catastrophe funds. Last year, California’s commissioner of insurance called together insurance regulators from some of the largest states in the nation who all called for the establishment of state and federal catastrophe preparedness programs.
Why the sudden interest?
It’s simple. The television coverage of the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina brought the impact of catastrophe into every living room in America. At the same time, hurricane forecasters from the National Weather Service have predicted a cycle of hurricane activity for the coming years that features more frequent and more furious storms than we have experienced in recent memory.
Forecasters have suggested that densely populated areas like the Mid-Atlantic States are prime targets for a massive hurricane.
Although these areas have not had major storms in the last half-century, the area has been the site of some devastating storms. Indeed, the 1938 storm known as the “Long Island Express” made landfall in Long Island, NY, carved the Shinnecock Inlet and tore through Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts. When the storm finally ended, 700 people were killed and 63,000 were homeless – and that was at a time when much of Long Island was rural farmland.
Today that region is home to millions of people.
Had that storm made landfall a mere 30 miles west of its actual landfall site, the Long Island Express would be known as the storm that destroyed Manhattan.
While hurricane awareness has increased tremendously from New England to Texas, America’s vulnerability to earthquakes has grown, as well.
Although the Great San Francisco Earthquake of 1906 in the best known earthquake in America, the New Madrid series of earthquakes in the early 1800s covered a far greater area which shook the ground with a force as strong as San Francisco’s earthquake.
The New Madrid Earthquakes emanated from New Madrid, Missouri, and struck over a three-month period in 1811 to 1812. They changed the course of the Mississippi River, shook the ground from Mississippi to Michigan and from Pennsylvania to Nebraska. Structures were damaged throughout the Mississippi Valley, landslides occurred from Memphis to St. Louis. These earthquakes are largely unknown today because they struck at a time when the earthquake zone was largely wilderness. But, the area that was then essentially the bulk of the Louisiana Purchase encompasses major population centers across the Midwest today.
Risk experts and modelers suggest that 57 percent of the American public resides in areas that are prone to earthquakes, hurricanes or other disasters. Protecting those families, certainly, is a pressing public need.
Protecting them means better mitigation, like better building codes and stronger code enforcement. It means smarter land use planning and it means improved education so families know how to protect themselves when the inevitable disaster strikes.
Creating a national catastrophe fund that is funded privately by insurance company revenues will protect the American taxpayers in every state, not just in catastrophe-prone areas.
The fact is, uncovered losses today ultimately fall on the taxpayers – all of us – regardless of where we live. Certainly, the federal government does not make each and every uninsured or under-insured homeowner whole in the aftermath of a mega-storm, but analyses following the onslaught of mega-catastrophes show that the federal government pays out billions of dollars to cover costs that could have been picked up by insurers if families had adequate and affordable homeowners policies.
The regional and national economies are affected tremendously by the ability, or inability, of communities to repair, rebuild and recover after catastrophe strikes. Adequate and affordable insurance are absolutely essential in speeding that process along. As Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour noted after the adoption of my resolution before the Southern Governor’s Association, “If you can’t insure, you can’t finance, and if you can’t finance, you can’t prosper.”
For the sake of our families and our economy – for the sake of our communities, our states and our nation, catastrophe preparedness needs to be an immediate national priority.
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Gov. Crist: Floridians Need Property Tax Cuts Now
“. . . property taxes have soared out of control. The budgets of local governments have grown irresponsibly .. .”
Published June, 2007
TALLAHASSEE -- Next week the Legislature will return to Tallahassee to bring property-tax relief to Floridians. Like me, legislators have heard from the people of Florida that they need this relief. Because of their input, I am optimistic that the Legislature will do the right thing and lower property taxes for Floridians this year.
Lt. Gov. Kottkamp and I have heard from many Floridians on this issue. We have held town hall meetings around our state – in Palm Beach, Punta Gorda, Orlando, Pensacola, Miami, Tampa and Plant City. At each one, people tell us they need help with high property taxes.
Floridians like Eduardo. Through his sign language interpreter, he told me he is worried because he plans to marry this fall, but cannot afford the higher taxes from moving to a different condo where he can have a family. When people cannot move to a different home, they lose a basic freedom – the freedom to choose where they live.
Eduardo’s situation is evidence that property taxes have soared out of control. The budgets of local governments have grown irresponsibly – faster than the rate of new construction and inflation. Between 2002 and 2007, local governments collected $17.8 billion in excess revenue. This year alone, $5.5 billion extra was collected. Since 2000, inflation and new construction have grown by 52 percent while property taxes have grown by 99 percent, nearly twice the growth rate.
This excess revenue is money raised on the backs of Floridians, taken from their pockets and away from their families. If people cannot afford to live here, then they cannot work here either. Florida’s economy is strong, and reducing property taxes will send a sonic boom through our economy. We can free people trapped in their current homes.
There are lots of ideas on how we can lower property taxes. I have suggested rolling back property taxes. We can also give Floridians the opportunity to cut property taxes even more through a constitutional amendment.
There are other good ideas for cutting property taxes, but our main goal is the same – to provide Floridians significant relief on their tax bill. In the days remaining until special session, I am committed to listening to ideas for how we can provide property-tax relief and finding a solution to ease your burden.
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Property Tax Crisis
Property Tax Cuts: A Promise Kept
TALLAHASSEE -- Today I signed landmark legislation that will provide the largest tax cut in Florida’s history to the property owners of our state. This tax cut is yours – the people’s tax cut – because you called on your legislators to make it happen. And you have called on me, too, since last year on the campaign trail. I am honored today to fulfill our promise to you and make property taxes drop like a rock.
The legislation I signed today will first roll back all property taxes to last year’s levels. All property owners will benefit, whether you own homesteaded property, a second home, or rental or commercial property. Depending on where you live, you will see a tax cut of five to ten percent. Statewide, the average property owner will save about $200 this year, and all property owners are expected to save approximately $15 billion over the next five years.
Second, this legislation gives you the power on January 29 to cut your 2008 property taxes – and beyond – even further. After approving the constitutional amendment, homeowners will see a substantial decrease in property taxes. Then you will get to choose the tax savings that works best for you. You can continue with your current homestead exemption and Save-Our-Homes cap, or you can select the new, so-called “super-sized” homestead exemption.
This super-sized tax cut will exempt 75 percent of the first $200,000 of your home’s value, and 15 percent of next $300,000. At a minimum, this super homestead exemption will double your current $25,000 homestead exemption, which is a promise I campaigned on last year.
Other property owners will benefit, too. Low-income seniors will see a minimum $100,000 homestead exemption. Affordable housing and working waterfronts will be taxed based on the income from the property. And businesses will receive a tax exemption on the first $25,000 of their tangible personal property.
Altogether, the constitutional amendment will save Floridians between $10 and $15 billion over four years. These savings will make a real difference in the lives of Floridians like the ones I met with today. Property taxes could drop by two-thirds for people like the Lewises in Tallahassee, the Waddles in West Palm Beach, the Mohans in Miami and the Garcias in Tampa.
The constitutional amendment in January gives you the opportunity to exercise your right to choose even lower property taxes. In this way, we can ignite Florida’s economy and create a better bottom line for Floridians – and all of Florida.
Charlie Crist is governor of Florida.
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