Amendment 1 Property Tax reform Vote on 1/29/08

January 15, 2008, Tampa, Fl

Governor Crist will spend a lot of time this week advocating passage of Amendment 1, the property tax reform proposal voters will consider on Jan. 29. The governor continues to visit families who will benefit from passage, and plans a promotional bus tour around the state on Wednesday. Early voting began today.

Read the full story: http://www.floridarealtors.org/NewsAndEvents/n1-011408.cfm

Florida Prpperty Tax Reform Report

Tampa, Fl November 4, 2007
The tax swap may be back. A panel of the Taxation and Budget Reform Commission, a group with the power to put an amendment directly on the November 2008 ballot, is considering a plan to reduce homestead property taxes and cap non-homestead property taxes with a temporary increase in the sales tax. FAR President Nancy Riley serves on the commission.

Read the full story: http://www.floridarealtors.org/NewsAndEvents/n1-113007.cfm

Support the Tampa-based Cut Taxes Now Citizens Petition

Tampa, Fl November 27, 2007.
Continuing to bash a property-tax plan he reluctantly voted for, House Speaker Marco Rubio is now urging supporters to back a citizens’ petition to cap the total amount of taxes paid by every property owner to 1.35 percent of the property’s value.

Read the full story:http://www.floridarealtors.org/NewsAndEvents/n1-112607.cfm

Florida Property Tax Reform Update

Tampa, Fl May 18,2007. While a House-Senate committee discussing Florida property taxes has not reached any conclusions, negotiators said yesterday they’ve tentatively agreed on a method to use – expand existing exemptions, such as homestead, and create new ones for non-homesteaded properties.

Read the full story:

http://www.floridarealtors.org/NewsAndEvents/n1-051707.cfm

FLORIDA LEGISLATURE REPORT ON PROPERTY TAXES REFORM

The Florida Senate’s property tax plan, unveiled last Thursday, is generating mixed reactions. Proponents of lower taxes say it doesn’t go far enough, while local governments and business interests generally prefer it. It’s clear that there’s one tax change no one is considering, however: the creation of a state income tax.
Read the full story:
http://www.floridarealtors.org/NewsAndEvents/n1-041607.cfm

HOW SHOULD FLORIDA PROPERTY TAXES CHANGE?

FAR leadership needs to know what you think about property tax reform and current proposals in the Florida Legislature. If you have not already done so, please link to an FAR survey designed to gauge members’ opinions on this year’s high-profile issue for the 2007 Florida Legislature.
http://www.floridarealtors.org/LegislativeCenter/LegislativeNews/Property-tax-reform-survey.cfm

Top 5 reasons why we shouldn't let Florida voters decide on Property Taxes

I'm glad to see that Florida property taxes and the negative effects of the "Save Our Homes" amendment are finally being addressed in this year's legislative sessions. What concerns me the most however is that the new house proposals are leaning toward letting the voters decide on the new property tax structure. I have 5 top reasons why we shouldn't let voters decide.
1. One needs to remember that it was the Florida voters that got us into this unfair property tax mess to begin with when they passed the "Save Our Homes" amendment back in 1992.
2. Amendments tend to get approved by "headlines" or misleading proposal names like "Save Our Homes" and can get us into a bigger mess than we started with.
3. A voter approved amendment will take to long. If we let individual counties approve whatever they want it will take to 2010 and beyond. We need relief yesterday.
4. What happens if the voter amendment does fix what was broken when it is passed? Look how long its taken to discover that the "Save Our Homes" amendment was a mistake.
5. What happens if the amendment doesn't pass? Then we are back to square one and have lost the momentum for real tax relief.
Why don't we set out to fix the problem that was started back in 1992. I'm proposing that we go back to that year's property base and then add back 3% per year for inflation and whatever percentage the growth rate has been for those years to arrive at the amount are taxes would be today had the "Save Our Homes" never got passed in the first place. Then going forward we cap government spending every year to 3% plus growth rate instead of capping homesteaded property. This would bring much needed relief to second home owners, vacation properties and business owners. We could still keep the $25,000 homestead principle in place but the yearly cap of 3% would no longer be needed because of the cap on government growth. This would eliminate the problems and tax inequality that "Save Our Homes" has brought. Sometimes its the things that are the simplest that makes the most sense in solving complex problems. If you would like to contact your legislator about the recent tax proposals a county by county list is at http://politics.tampabay.com or visit www.tomburkett.com

Real Estate Update 3/15/2007

There’s been a lot of interesting news out the past two days so I’m combining them into one article.

2007 FLORIDA LEGISLATURE
One hand may not know what the other hand is doing: The Florida House wants to get rid of property taxes; at the same time, however, it has told local school boards to increase property taxes if they need more money to operate. Read complete story.

In Tallahassee yesterday, the Senate began their debate on property tax reform, focusing on a priority of commercial Realtors to change the tax basis of “highest and best use” to one that considers how a property is actually used. In the House, debate continued as Democrats offered their own reform plan.
Read the full story

SUBPRIME MORTGAGES
Subprime mortgage market troubles already make it more difficult for some homebuyers to secure a mortgage, but fear of a broad collapse has caused Congress to consider tougher standards for the industry.
Read the full story

MORTGAGES
HUD is preparing to punish some subprime mortgage lenders under investigation for discriminatory practices it announced yesterday. HUD also suggested that the largest mortgage companies, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, should consider giving strapped homeowners more time to make their payments.
Read the full story

CITIZENS PROPERTY INSURANCE
Florida officials approved a new business plan for Citizens Property Insurance, allowing the state-run insurer to be more competitive and offer some savings to policyholders. Under the plan, Citizens will offer a complete policy that covers windstorm damage, as well as fire, theft and liability.
Read the full story

REAL ESTATE FORECAST
The real estate market faces unique conditions right now, such as the subprime mortgage market problem and unusual weather. Consequently, NAR predicts that things will likely get better this year but hesitates to say exactly when that turnaround will occur.
Read Full story

2007 FLORIDA LEGISLATURE UPDATE

An alternative House Republican plan to swap property taxes for sales taxes began to gather steam Friday. The idea is to eliminate the portion of property tax bills that go to school districts and pay for education through a higher sales tax. To read the entire story click here.

A flock of Canadian snowbirds are banning together to call for property tax reform in Florida. Snowbird Phyllis Turek says she doesn’t expect the same concessions as full-time residents, but believes snowbirds should get some credit for paying taxes year-round and using services for only a few months. I agree that the tax relief should be aimed at the people you have been paying more than their fair share. Click here to read the entire article. Visit my website for more info on the Tampa Bay area and local Real Estate. info

State House leaders fast-track bill to reduce property taxes

In a rush to show that lawmakers are serious about cutting property taxes, a House council passed a controversial bill Wednesday to sharply roll back local taxes, which would save property owners statewide as much as $5.8 billion. Finally, Some relief may be in store for second homeowners, vacation homeowners and business owners. To read the complete article click here. or visit http://www.tomburkett.com