Column

Property tax carrot comes with a stick

By C.T. BOWEN, Editor of Editorials
Published January 13, 2008

Backers of the Save Our Homes amendment to Florida's Constitution said it would keep people in their homes by preventing higher tax bills generated by rapidly growing assessments.

Now, supporters of the updated version, to be considered by voters Jan. 29, say it is needed to move people from their homes.

Yes, some argue that people who enjoy substantial tax savings should be allowed to take that exemption with them when they move. It is called portability and it will benefit individuals while continuing the tax inequities across Florida.

Commission-starved real estate agents, a trio of state legislators and even Sheriff Bob White gathered Friday at the West Pasco Board of Realtors headquarters in New Port Richey to cheerlead the proposed constitutional amendment.

This thing isn't about property taxes, incidentally. It's about the fundamental fiscal health of the state. It's about freedom. It's about the American Dream. It's about time for the re-election campaigns to kick into high gear, judging from the rhetoric.

The first question from the audience of approximately 110 was about counting Florida's Republican delegates to the national convention. So much for the crushing tax burden as the leading issue at hand.

Around the room sat plenty of orange and white signs proclaiming "Save Our Homes Now." But whose home needs saving?

Pasco County reduced its millage each of the past six years, from more than 9 bucks per $1,000 to less than $5.44, a 20-year low. If you have homesteaded property in unincorporated Pasco and you haven't made major improvements, your county tax bill keeps declining.

It is tough to get that message out, however, at the same time homeowners' insurance premiums have more than tripled over a 24-month period. So which is the more pressing problem facing Floridians? Legislators acknowledge they have failed on the insurance issue. They are counting on the tax proposal to bail them out politically.

Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, a champion of the constitutional amendment, complimented the county's frugality in devising its annual tax rate. The sheriff, in the rear of the room, might not share that opinion, though I suspect he was there at Fasano's behest.

White's department absorbed much of the cutting of the proposed 2008 county budget last fall. Still, Pasco commissioners gave the sheriff a $3-million increase and set aside enough money in escrow to hire 10 new deputies if voters reject the amendment. Commissioners said they didn't want the new personnel hired if there wouldn't be enough money to keep them on the payroll later.

Despite the promised influx of deputies, White said he will vote for the amendment. His support comes even as the state estimates that passage of the amendment will cost Pasco County $15-million in general revenue and $3-million from its fire department budget.

White says it's about priorities. He likes to say the county budget is more than $1.2-billion and he takes $84-million. More accurately, property taxes account for less than 15 percent of the total budget, and the sheriff takes, on average, at least half of property taxes in the general fund annually.

The real estate agents referred to the consequence on local governments as minimal. I don't buy it. The stuff financed from the general revenue budget that would be cut in October includes law enforcement, courts, elderly nutrition, parks and libraries.

A few speakers and questioners bemoaned what they called misinformation. Then they shared some. One agent, for instance, said the school district is losing students, yet is still building schools. Wrong. Pasco County is one of only five districts across the state to report a growing student population.

The number of students enrolled in Pasco public schools (not counting charter schools) is more than 63,000, a nearly 2,000 increase over 2007. The district projects 1,200 more coming in 2008-09. The amendment supporters also proclaim that education funding will not be harmed by the changes in the tax code, estimated to save homeowners an average of $240 annually.

It mattered little to the county's top elected educator.

"I will be voting against it," superintendent Heather Fiorentino said later. "I don't think the $20 a month in my pocket will replace the services that local government is providing me."

[Last modified January 12, 2008, 20:25:03]