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Better than nothing; is that good enough?

By HOWARD TROXLER
Published January 3, 2008

Maybe you are thinking:

"Thank goodness that the holidays are over! Now I can turn my full attention to figuring out this property tax thing on the Jan. 29 ballot."

Hey, that's just what I was thinking, too! This is a big decision. So, let's take a look.

Amendment 1 would do four things:

(1) It would increase Florida's "homestead" tax exemption. The way it works now, we don't tax the first $25,000 of a home's value. The new total tax break would vary, but a typical figure is $40,000.

(2) The amendment also would change the rules for the "Save Our Homes" tax break for homesteads. The tax break would become "portable," or transferable to a new home.

(3) Businesses would get a little help as well, a tax exemption for their first $25,000 of tangible personal property.

(4) All nonhomestead property also would get a cap of 10 percent a year on how fast its taxable value could go up. That's not as good as the 3 percent cap homeowners have, but it's better than the double-digit jumps of recent years.

Now to the pros and cons.

Before we go through the reasons to vote against it, be sure to remember the really good reasons to vote for it.

Hey, look, it's a tax cut. Millions of Floridians will get a bigger break. Nonhomestead property, including businesses, will get a little help, and protection against future double-digit hikes.

Maybe we should do other reform later, according to this line of argument. But at least Amendment 1 is a start.

As a second reason for voting yes, some people hope the "portable" tax break under Save Our Homes will help the real estate market, since people no longer have to stay in their old home to keep their tax break.

Now, for some of the arguments against Amendment 1:

It gives the most help to homeowners, who already get the best tax break, and it gives the least help to those who need it most.

It doesn't fix the underlying unfairness in Florida's tax structure.

It doesn't reverse any of the big local government tax increases of recent years.

It gives the average homeowner an insultingly small break, a couple of hundred bucks a year.

It doesn't do enough for business.

It might even make future tax reform harder to pass.

It would require even deeper cuts in local services, in exchange for a fairly small savings for the typical taxpayer.

Whew! That is a lot of criticism. But even if it all is true, there's still the "better than nothing" argument.

My own thinking is that the Legislature took the easy way out with Amendment 1.

Instead of a thoughtful, coherent reform, the Legislature held a quick three-day session in October, threw in a higher tax break for homeowners, stuck on a couple of sops to business, and called it quits. This is a shallow way to run the state.

If you like the arguments for voting yes, and you agree that this is better than nothing, then go right ahead, and I will cheer for you.

But me, I kinda hope the voters shoot it down and tell the Legislature: Try again, and do it better.

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Check out my list of potential 2008 column topics, and what readers are saying about current events, on TroxBlog. Click on the "Blogs" link at www.tampabay.com and look for me there.

[Last modified January 3, 2008, 00:02:16]