Digest

Dateline Florida

By Times Staff
Published August 22, 2007

PROPERTY TAX VOTE A TOSS-UP

A second statewide poll on the Jan. 29 property tax referendum shows passage is too close to call. A survey by the University of Florida shows 58 percent of voters support the plan to greatly increase the current $25,000 homestead exemption. Under a new state law, 60 percent approval is needed. But the poll has a margin of error of 3 or 4 percent, so "whether the amendment will pass remains a wide open question," said David Denslow, an economics professor who led the research. Of the 287 Florida homeowners who responded to the July survey, 277 said they had formed an opinion. Also in July, a larger survey by Quinnipiac University Polling Institute found 57 percent approval for the plan. The referendum would allow homeowners to choose between keeping the 3 percent property assessment cap already available under the Save Our Homes provision or a new provision that would increase their homestead exemptions by up to $195,000 on a $500,000 home.

How much hairy food is there?

A 550-pound man accused of cheating several restaurants by claiming he had found hair in his food was arrested again, according to the Orlando Sentinel. This time, police said, he talked a clerk out of $120 on April 21 by claiming he had bought 30 bags of moldy beef jerky. Police said George Walter Jolicoeur, 35, of Sanford tried the same thing over the weekend at a convenience store near Oviedo, where he told a clerk he had bought $50 of moldy beef jerky and wanted a refund. The clerk, though, recognized Jolicoeur from news reports and tried to stall, but Jolicoeur left. Police arrested him at his home. Records show that in 2005 Jolicoeur pleaded no contest to five crimes involving restaurants. Among them: He said he found hair in five sandwiches from Firehouse Subs and got a $36 refund; and he got $31 back from Steak 'N Shake after saying he'd found hair in six shakes.

[Last modified August 21, 2007, 23:37:56]