TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) ? A ballot proposal that initially would cut local property taxes by about $570 million annually, but possibly much more later, cleared its first committee Wednesday in the Florida Legislature.
The proposed state constitutional amendment?s sponsor acknowledged it?ll need some work to stay alive after the 14-8 vote.
Several members of the House Finance and Tax Committee said they had reservations but voted for the amendment (HJR 1289) so two other panels to which it?s been assigned will have a chance to fix problems they see in it.
?This may spark the debate for holistic reform in the tax arena,? said Rep. Jason Brodeur, the Sanford Republican who is sponsoring the amendment. ?It will get some substantial changes or I believe it probably won?t get heard again.?
The amendment would cut city and county but not school property taxes through a ?super exemption? for primary homeowners. Besides the current $25,000 homestead exemption, they would be able to take off 30 percent of just value between $75,000 and $200,000 and 15 percent between $200,000 and $400,000.
The measure also would give the Legislature authority to cut taxes even more by increasing the super exemption or totally exempting primary homeowners from non-school property taxes.
Local government organizations opposed the amendment.
?Just the impact is too great for us to handle,? said Davin Suggs, a lobbyist for the Florida Association of Counties.
Suggs pointed out it would be on top of another tax relief proposal already on the November ballot. Amendment 4, which lawmakers passed last year, would cut non-school property taxes by $1.7 billion over the first four years and Brodeur?s proposal would add another $2.3 billion in that span. All amendments require 60 percent voter approval.
Amendment 4 also includes a super exemption for homeowners and a 5 percent cap on annual assessment increases for non-homestead property. That cap currently is 10 percent while homesteaders have a 3 percent maximum under the Save Our Homes Amendment adopted in the 1990s.
Save Our Homes created inequities because newer home buyers can get tax bills several times higher than longtime owners for houses of the same market value. It also shifted the tax burden to businesses and other non-homestead properties.
Voters approved another amendment in 2008 designed to shift some the burden back to homeowners by setting the 10 percent non-homestead cap. Amendment 4 would take that shift another step.
Suggs said Brodeur?s proposal would undo those efforts to restore equity by giving homeowners another huge tax break.
A similar proposal (SJR 314) in the Senate also includes a super homestead exemption, but it would replace Amendment 4 rather than pile on top of it.
Some committee members said they?d prefer a complete revamp of the tax system rather than such piecemeal measures. Florida League of Cities lobbyist Amber Hughes agreed.
?We?re tired of coming up every year and just whining to be honest,? Hughes said. ?We want to be proactive.?
She said it won?t be easy, though.
?You have to be very bold and have a very strong backbone,? she said. ?Save Our Homes is a very special piece of the constitution to many of our homeowners.?
Republican Reps. Frederick Costello of Ormond Beach and George Moraitis of Fort Lauderdale, joined six Democrats in opposing the amendment and an implementing bill (HB 1291) in what otherwise were party-line votes.
?We?re trying to take credit for cutting taxes when we?re in essence really just telling somebody else you need to cut ?cause we don?t like what you?re doing,? Costello said. ?The state should cut state taxes and locals should cut local taxes.?
The panel also approved other legislation cutting business taxes.
Another amendment (HJR 1003) and its implementing bill (HB 1003) would reduce local tangible personal property taxes by at least $20 million a year. Only small businesses, though, would benefit. The current $25,000 exemption would increase to $50,000 but just for businesses with less than $50,000 worth of equipment and other personal property.
Individuals licensed as real estate sales or broker associates would be exempt from business taxes under a bill (HB 361) expected to cost local governments nearly $4 million a year.
Another bill (HB 87) would reduce severance taxes for oil produced after July 1 from onshore fields discovered before 1981. It?s designed to encourage the use of new but expensive technology to revive old wells in southwest Florida and the Panhandle.
That?s expected to cost the state nearly $3 million a year and local governments about $200,000, but Rep. Matt Hudson, a Naples Republican sponsoring the bill, said it would be a net plus by increasing oil production and creating an estimated 150 jobs.
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