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Tax revolt is rising

Elected officials are getting an earful from Floridians whose property tax bills skyrocket while others enjoy artificially low rates.

As Pinellas County commissioners discovered Thursday night, the tax revolt that is breaking out in courthouses and city halls across Florida is not just driven by higher bills. It is also being fueled by anger over the inherent unfairness created by the Save Our Homes amendment that favors longtime homeowners over businesses, renters and more recent home buyers.

Their anger is understandable.

The rocketing real estate market in recent years has predictably produced higher property assessments, and some local governments are bringing in significantly more money as a result. But the Save Our Homes amendment, promoted as a way to protect elderly widows from being taxed out of their homes, has led to a massive redistribution of the tax burden. Live in an apartment, own a small business, or moved recently? Soaring property values are driving your tax bills sky high, while Save Our Homes is keeping the long-time homeowner's bill artificially low.

This more selective tax revolt was visited upon Pinellas commissioners during a four-hour public hearing Thursday night, and it led them to consider further reducing the tax rate. Unlike the revolts of the early 1980s, these protests are being led by owners of rental properties and small businesses in coastal communities. They are people such as Jim Crumley, 62, of Dunedin, who has rental properties and a tax bill that jumped 28 percent. "I can't afford it," said Crumley. "I just can't afford all the things that you want."

On the same night, commissions and school boards in Broward, Palm Beach, Volusia, Polk, Santa Rosa and Leon counties were hearing a similar message. Four busloads and two private coaches carried protesters to the Volusia County meeting. In the Panhandle, hurricanes and taxes were a potent theme. As reported in the Pensacola News Journal, Milton resident Donna Diamond told county commissioners: "Not only have we been punished with increased insurance rates because of Ivan, but now you want to punish us with higher taxes."

The budget hearings underscore the need for basic fairness in taxes. Save Our Homes upends the balance by artificially limiting assessment increases each year on homesteaded property to 3 percent or the inflation rate, whichever is lower. It's as if the Internal Revenue Service told millionaires their income taxes would increase by only 3 percent each year, even if their income doubled or tripled. But cities and counties can't operate with a deficit and have enough money for increased demand for services and to pay their own rising bills for insurance and other expenses. As a result, one taxpayer's gift is another's burden.

The finger is now being pointed at elected commissioners, including those in Pinellas, and they certainly will feel the pressure to respond to taxpayers. As they consider lowering tax rates, they need to remember that what goes up often comes down. Property sales have slowed dramatically in the past six months, which means that next year's tax values are almost certain to level off.

These hearings should also be attracting attention in the state Capitol, where lawmakers are supposed to be considering ways to reduce the tax inequity. Too many legislators simply want to blame local governments for higher taxes. But they miss the political point. If anything, Save Our Homes has served to insulate local officials from criticism for higher taxes because homeowners who don't move have no reason to complain.

Fourteen years after the amendment was approved, Florida has created two classes of property taxpayers whose tax bills are unrelated to their ability to pay. There are the lucky Save Our Homes homeowners who are shrinking in number - and there is everybody else whose voices are growing louder.

[Last modified September 9, 2006, 20:40:11]