Broward Schools & Property Tax Edition: Capitol To Courthouse Headliners

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Businesses set sights on tax relief

Unelected panel may help with what lobbyists say is a slight

After a property-tax special session in which Florida lawmakers devoted most of their attention to homeowners, the state’s dissatisfied business lobby is turning to an obscure but powerful body to get deeper tax cuts directed its way.

Bense urges commission to work quietly on property tax issues

Members of a constitutional commission reviewing Florida’s tax structure should stay out of the debate over the Legislature’s ballot issue on property tax relief even though they cannot ignore that subject, the panel’s chairman said Tuesday.

 

Florida Taxation and Budget Reform Commission Planning and Budgetary Processes Committee Meets Monday, July 9

The purpose of the meeting will be to discuss committee jurisdiction, determine the immediate topics of interest to be discussed in upcoming meetings, and to discuss the frequency and duration of future meetings.
Date: Monday, July 9, 2007
Time: 3:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.

For a list of  Florida Taxation and Budget Reform Commission Members and their biographies, click here.

For a list of Florida Taxation and Budget Reform Commission Committee assignments, click here.

 

Governor Crist Signs “High School To Business Career Enhancement Program”

Governor Charlie Crist today signed the High School to Business Career Enhancement Program. The Governor commended Jonathan Porat, a Hillsborough High School student, who drafted the legislation as part of State Representative Kevin Ambler’s (R-Lutz) “Ought to Be a Law” Student Bill Drafting Competition.

 

Residents and Democratic lawmakers disappointed in recent property tax legislation
 
Sunrise Sandy Neidenberg is stuck and she’s scared.  Stuck with four townhouses — from Naples to West Palm Beach — that she bought four years ago as an investment with a friend. Stuck with a small business she can’t find technicians to work for because of the cost of living. And scared about the taxes she will pay when she moves from her single-family house in Coral Springs to a townhouse in Weston by year’s end.

 

Republican Party mailer accuses Broward County Democrat and others of voting against tax relief 

TALLAHASSEE A Broward County Democrat is among the first lawmakers to feel a political sting from Republicans over recent property tax votes in the Legislature.

 

Do the math. Nah, flip a coin

Honest, I have nothing against cutting taxes. I agree with Gov. Crist and the Legislature that property taxes have become bizarre. But I need to see evidence that some thought went into their solutions.

 

Appraisers feel heat to inflate property’s value

Property appraisers in South Florida say they routinely come under pressure to value houses for more than they are really worth.

An appraiser’s job is to calculate a home’s value so lenders can decide how much to loan buyers. In mortgage fraud schemes, appraisers are sometimes asked to raise their estimates so lenders approve larger loans.

 

Davie: Management company hired to perform efficiency study

The Town Council has agreed to pay a management company $50,000 to perform an efficiency study to help cut costs during budget season.

 

Martin hikes fees for services but spares legal costs

STUART — Looking to offset upcoming losses of property tax revenues, Martin County commissioners boosted fees last week that residents will pay for a slew of services and increased the amount developers must pay to have their projects reviewed.

 

Ballot-box zoning will stifle construction

A group called “Florida Hometown Democracy” is gathering signatures for a constitutional amendment requiring a referendum on any proposed changes in comprehensive land-use plans. Those are the “comp plans” that guide the type and location of development in a city or county.

 

Initiative also has relief for business owners

Measure eases small tax that’s a big headache
 
In the flurry of confusion as state legislators hammered out a property tax relief bill, a piece of it — which could save small businesses money — got little attention.

 

Royal rush: New law fills poker room

Increased bets and pot limits attracts full house of poker players

Las Vegas-style gambling exploded on Southwest Florida on Sunday, and the result was a bigger, younger crowd in the area’s poker room.

 

Minorities in Broward, Palm Beach counties call for more accurate census

Commissioner E. Pat Larkins is certain the U.S. census has overlooked some minority residents in his city, costing Pompano Beach millions of dollars.

 

The best privatization is the kind that works

The whole idea of privatization – or “outsourcing,” if you prefer – is to save the taxpayers money and improve services by injecting competition into the government marketplace.

 

Our school is better than yours

You might think that the last group to embrace censorship would be college presidents. After all, they’re interested in expanding knowledge, right? Well, no. The incipient revolt against the college rankings by U.S. News & World Report says otherwise. When college presidents – or some of them – encounter inconvenient information, they’re eager to suppress it.

 

Governor Crist Names Chief Child Advocate

Governor Charlie Crist today announced the appointment of Jim Kallinger as Florida’s Chief Child Advocate. Kallinger serves as director of the Office of Adoption and Child Protection within the Executive Office of the Governor.

 

When trimming budgets, cut fat first, services last

Only after they’ve cut the fat should elected county and city officials respond to the Florida Legislature’s property-tax rollback by targeting public services. The obvious and best choice is to do what hurts the public the least. And that could mean cutting salaries.

 

Higher values bring no tax relief

Property values in Martin County have gone up a fraction more than previously estimated, but the news means little to governments who count on those numbers for most of their income.

 

Gas tax not enough for state’s roads

Slow growth in the fuel tax — not just in Florida but also nationally — means there will be less road-building money available in a fast-growing state where the population is expected to approach 45 million residents by the mid-century.

 

Governor Crist Signs Legislation To Improve Infant Health

Governor Charlie Crist today signed into law House Bill 1269, which creates an initiative to improve infant health by identifying factors contributing to higher death rates among African-American infants. Bill sponsors Representative Betty Reed (D-Tampa) and Senator Arthenia Joyner (D-Tampa) joined Governor Crist for the bill signing ceremony in East Tampa, a community with one of the highest infant mortality rates in Florida.