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Politics

Crist calls for property tax cut

In a pitch that will appeal to homeowners, he says people are paying "exorbitant" taxes at the local level.

By STEVE Bousquet
Published January 25, 2007

TALLAHASSEE - After effectively demonizing the insurance industry to force lower rates, Gov. Charlie Crist is now aiming his populist us-versus-them rhetoric at city and county governments.

His new pitch: Property taxes must come down, partly because city and county commissioners spend too much money.

He said city and county spending has "exploded" in recent years and that local tax dollars "have to be spent more responsibly." He said he would consider capping how much they can spend every year.

The state plans public hearings on property taxes in the next several weeks, including one in Tampa.

"My obligation is not to work for local government. It's to work for local people," Crist said. "People are paying exorbitant property taxes at the local level and they wonder what the money's being spent on. So do I."

Some legislators agree with Crist that a spending cap is worth exploring.

Sen. Mike Haridopolos, R-Melbourne, cited state figures showing an 83 percent rise in local property tax levies over the past five years, a period in which personal income in Florida rose by 37 percent. "We do not have a revenue problem," Haridopolos said in announcing a series of hearings statewide on property taxes, beginning today in Panama City.

Crist, talking taxes at the Capital Tiger Bay Club in Tallahassee, said the Save Our Homes 3 percent property tax cap should be made transferable to a new Florida home.

He also called it "reasonable and doable" to double the homestead exemption to $50,000 - a plan that would require approval of at least 60 percent of the state's voters. Both tax proposals were key elements of Crist's campaign.

But lobbyists for cities and counties were telling legislators Wednesday that Crist's plan could bankrupt smaller counties already struggling with narrow tax bases.

Palmer Mason, legislative director of the Florida Association of Counties, acknowledged that high property taxes are a problem, but he told a House committee that the plan would devastate some counties.

He cited rural Dixie County, where the housing stock is largely mobile homes that are untaxed because they are assessed below $25,000, the current value of the homestead exemption.

"With my small counties, I wonder how many are going to fall into bankruptcy," Mason told the House Urban and Local Affairs Committee .

Cities and counties are doubly alarmed because some lawmakers are proposing to limit the amount of money local governments can spend.

Crist is trying to take advantage of the afterglow of bipartisanship following the special session that ended with mandated cuts in insurance rates.

He plans to sign the insurance bill today in a series of highly publicized stops with Senate President Ken Pruitt and House Speaker Marco Rubio, who has endorsed a statewide special election next September to ask voters to double the homestead exemption.

Next week, Crist will unveil his budget recommendations to the Legislature - an annual exercise that naturally focuses attention on government spending.

Crist made his pitch for a property tax cut to an overflow Tiger Bay Club crowd of more than 400 people. It was the largest crowd Crist has faced since his Jan. 2 inauguration.

After the usual lighthearted jabs from club members, Crist gave several Democratic lawmakers large credit for working to fix the insurance mess, and he ticked off names of several key appointees in his administration - all of them Democrats.

They included secretary Bob Butterworth at the Department of Children and Families, Juvenile Justice Secretary Walt McNeil and Pat Gleason, Crist's open-government advisor.

The heavily Democratic Tallahassee crowd gave Crist a warm welcome.

"You sound like Lawton Chiles!" said Dexter Douglass, a lawyer who was the former Democratic governor's general counsel. Others shouted "Yes!" and the crowd applauded.

Elaborating later, Douglass said of Crist: "He read the Constitution. ... You're there to serve, not to take. That's a change."

Times staff writer Alex Leary contributed to this report. Steve Bousquet can be reached at bousquet@sptimes.com or 850 224-7263.

Fast Facts:

Voice your views

Beginning today in Panama City, lawmakers will travel around the state to gather public testimony on the property tax burden. The hearing for the Tampa Bay area is scheduled for Feb. 15 at Hillsborough Community College in Tampa, from 6 to 9 p.m. Ideas can be contributed through the Senate's Web site, flsenate.gov. Click on the property tax reform icon under Senate President Ken Pruitt's photo.

[Last modified January 25, 2007, 05:47:24]