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No on Amendment 7© St. Petersburg Times published October 16, 2002 Amendment 7 comes courtesy of the Florida Legislature and may sound like a noble tax incentive to encourage families to take care of their elderly parents. What it really amounts to is a cheap play to elderly voters, unworthy of the ballot. The amendment is the work of state Sen. Ginny Brown-Waite, who is running for Congress, and it received no meaningful debate in the Legislature and has no visible advocacy. It would give each county the option of providing a special property tax exemption for people who construct home additions to serve their elderly parents or grandparents. The added property value, up to 20 percent, would not be assessed for tax purposes for as long as the elderly family member lives there. The stated intent is to keep elderly people out of nursing homes, but it is hard not to notice that this tax exemption is a freebie for the lawmakers who voted to put it on the Nov. 5 ballot. The state would lose nothing. Counties and cities and school boards would pay the price -- an estimated $4.5-million if adopted statewide. The loss of tax money is not the main reason to oppose this amendment, though. It's simply unfair and unworkable. Families that buy a larger home to provide space for their parents would get no tax consideration. Neither would families that had previously expanded their homes or whose homes already have enough space. Property appraisers would be asked to police the age and family relationships of people who live inside these homes, and to remove the exemptions when the elderly person dies. Property tax exemptions are politically tempting, and the list is growing: a $25,000 homestead exemption, another $25,000 to low-income elderly homeowners, Save Our Homes limitations of the annual increase in assessments, exemptions for disabled veterans and to surviving spouses of veterans. Of note, this latest one has no monetary cap. Though the amount that can be exempted is limited to 20 percent of the home value, such a percentage would allow owners of a $1-million home to keep a $200,000 addition from being taxed. Of course, property owners without the exemptions are the ones who pick up the tab. Put No. 7 in the category of election-year high jinks. We recommend a NO vote.
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From the Times Opinion page Editorial Editorial Editorial Letters Bill Maxwell |
