TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Highlands Today

Property Tax Inequities

ADVERTISEMENT

By Sen. J.D. Alexander

Published: October 21, 2007

This week, the Florida Senate passed legislation to place a constitutional amendment before the voters that would change how property taxes are calculated across the state. Along with many of my fellow senators from both parties, I voted against this legislation, which was only a part of the necessary legislative policy changes that needed to be passed by the full Legislature to impact Florida's current property tax issue.

Simply put, this proposed constitutional change did not do enough to protect the rural counties and cities that I represent and would have saddled them with a financial burden too heavy to carry.

Make no mistake, I support property tax reductions and agree that many local governments' spending habits need to be reined in so government growth and revenue shouldn't continue to outpace that of family incomes. However, small counties and cities also have the continued responsibility to maintain public safety measures, ensure fair elections and continue the basic functions of their governments delegated by the state and the constitution. For many of the small communities in my home district, balancing these two would be virtually impossible under the legislation just passed by the Senate.

Cities such as Frostproof, Okeechobee and Avon Park – to name a few – all have a small tax base and if we eliminate taxable property off their rolls, we leave them with an even more limited revenue stream to carry out the basic functions their communities rely on.

Knowing that I could not support this policy change and that the measure was going to pass out of the Senate, I asked the Senate to provide in statute for financially disadvantaged counties and appropriate funds sufficient enough to make up for the revenue deficit that would result from this change. It is vital that we consider all of Florida's 67 counties when addressing the property tax "remedy," especially our rural and small counties that count on their limited revenue streams to provide for their residents.

When we return to Tallahassee next week, I will continue to balance my support for real property tax relief with the needs of our small communities, and I will make sure that the needs of all our counties are also considered when we decide on a final measure to address the state's property tax crisis.

Sen. J.D. Alexander

Senate District 17

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT