Governor Crist Response

Governor Charlie Crist announced his suggestions for reducing the propertytax burden by $34 billion on Florida’s homeowners, businesses and rentersover a five-year period. The Governor’s proposal would encourage homeownership while also capping runaway spending by local governments. TheGovernor will continue to work with the legislature upon their return forthe special session in June.

This plan would provide immediate relief to both those who are barred fromthe American dream of owning their first home and those current homeownerswho feel unable to move and trapped by skyrocketing property taxes,Governor Crist said. By providing immediate relief now along with a planfor future reductions, we can reverse the trend of high property taxes andmake living in Florida more affordable.Details of the plan include four components, including immediately rollingback local government revenue caps to 2003 levels, with an allowance forinflation and growth. Under the Governor’s proposal, Florida homeownerswill benefit from a 12 percent tax cut on their property taxes on theirhomestead in 2007 and 21.5 percent in 2008. This measure would provide thehomeowner of an average-priced home of $290,000 a savings of $340 on their2007 property taxes. Over five years, each present-day homeowner wouldsave $1,987 in property taxes because property taxes would not continuegrowing at their current rate.The revenues of local governments have ballooned over $17 billion beyond aresponsible growth rate during the past five years, taking money out of thetaxpayers’ pockets, Governor Crist said.

We must give the people ofFlorida hope that relief from this tax burden is on the way.Governor Crist also proposed three additional components that require aconstitutional amendment for voter consideration. The constitutionalamendment would phase in three additional savings for property owners by2008:· Provide an additional homestead exemption of $25,000. This measurewould provide an additional average savings of $238. In addition to thetax rollback in 2007, the homeowner’s total savings would be an average of$601. If passed by voters in 2007, this property tax savings would beginin 2008.· Make Save Our Homes Portable While Also Providing Assistance toFirst-Time Home Buyers. Governor Crist proposes making the Save Our Homescap portable statewide so that homeowners can take their current taxsavings with them when they move. In the first year alone, the homeownerwho purchases an average-priced home of $290,000 is expected to save anadditional $923 in property taxes. If passed by voters in 2007, thisproperty tax savings would apply to individuals who buy homes in 2007 andwould affect their 2008 taxes.Because portability of the Save Our Homes cap applies only to existinghomeowners, an additional measure would ensure that first-time home buyersin Florida and new residents to the state would also benefit.

GovernorCrist recommends providing a 25 percent exemption for first-time homebuyers, which would provide a savings of $546, or 11.9 percent.· Exempt the first $25,000 of businesses’ tangible personal property.Businesses would save $200 million annually on this property tax. Ifpassed by voters in 2007, this property tax savings would also begin in2008. By 2011, this exemption will save businesses a total of $800million.I applaud House Speaker Marco Rubio and Senate President Ken Pruitt and theleadership of the House and Senate for their tireless work on exploringpossible ways to reform property taxes, Governor Crist said. Now is thetime to come together and find a way to relieve the financial burden on ourcitizens.

Except for the exemption on businesses’ tangible personal property,Governor Crist’s property tax reform proposals do not affect funding forschools.Earlier in the week, Governor Crist visited with about 300 citizens in PalmBeach Gardens and about 100 citizens in Orlando during town hall meetingsto hear their concerns about rising property taxes. Lt. Governor JeffKottkamp held similar town hall meetings in Punta Gorda and Pensacola.We are hearing over and over that Floridians need hope that their propertytaxes will come down so that they can continue living in Florida, Lt.Governor Kottkamp said. This issue is impacting every Floridian, and it istime for us to make changes that will make Florida affordable once again.