The Florida legislature passed a bill that will be voted on in January.
Lawmakers have already approved an immediate 7% rollback in property taxes, and tied future local revenue growth to increases in personal income. That is expected to cut tax collections by $15 billion over the next five years. Translation: homeowners will save an average of $200 on their property tax bills.
The second law calls for a Jan. 29 special election on a super homestead exemption to begin in 2008. The proposed state Constitutional amendment at minimum would double the standard $25,000 homestead exemption and replace the existing 3 percent Save Our Homes tax cap with 75 percent of the first $200,000 of the home's value, and 15 percent of the home value's next $300,000.
Other exemptions that voters will decide:
A minimum $100,000 homestead exemption for low-income seniors.
Taxing of affordable housing based on the landlord's income from the property.
Taxing of working waterfronts based on the income from the property.
The first $25,000 of tangible personal property will be exempt.
I'd vote for a third option: wipe out the property tax system completely, and go to a flat-rate sales tax.
