Broward Schools & Property Tax Edition: Capitol to Courthouse Headliners–Aug. 3

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Editorial: No jackpot

Florida schools need steady, predictable funding, not slot schemes

State lawmakers made a lousy bet when they planned to use millions of dollars in tax revenues from new slot machines in some Broward County betting venues to pay for public schools.

 

Sales tax holiday’s appeal may be slipping

Retailers are holding their breath to see if shoppers come in force for the savings.  With insurance, energy and taxes taking a bigger bite of her paycheck, Emma Baylon pledged to spend less reloading closets with back-to-school goods this year.

 

Voter Measure Planned for ’08

TALLAHASSEE – A Republican lawmaker is planning a ballot proposal that could include a higher sales tax and other fees in an effort to do away with property taxes.

 

State Facing $1.5 Billion Shortfall

TALLAHASSEE – Florida’s slowing economy is expected to cost the state government nearly $1.5 billion in lost taxes and other revenue in this budget year and the one that ended June 30, state economists said Wednesday.

 

School items tax-free, but supply lists may tax you

School supply list in hand, 8-year-old Austin Bremer was on the hunt for a composition book.  No black-and-white marbled version would do. Austin flipped through the pile until he found one with Darth Vader on the cover. He passed on the plain, solid-colored erasers, too. He’ll wipe out his errors this year in a waft of fruit-punch-scented eraser.

 

Realtors taken to school by district officials

They came armed with questions. Realtors, developers and property managers asked why school attendance boundaries and the priority list for new schools keep changing, if Fleming Island will ever get a junior high school, how property tax cuts will affect the school district and what is being done to improve school grades.

 

Florida may face even bigger budget cuts

TALLAHASSEE Florida will have $1.1 billion less revenue this year than had been projected, a team of economists said Wednesday, setting the stage for a special legislative session to cut the state’s budget by 4 percent or more.

 

District will avoid tax boost

School board cuts millage rate despite looming fund shortfall

Homeowners can rest easy.  Property taxes won’t increase to support Brevard Public Schools this year, despite a potential 4 percent cut in state funds to schools.

 

Pembroke Pines needs to trim more from budget

PEMBROKE PINES–City revenue would decrease by 30 percent in the new fiscal year, but it is unclear how deeply services would be cut under the $322 million budget proposed by City Manager Charles F. Dodge.

 

Lessons in false scarcity

WACO, Texas — “Learn your current events,” we tell children. “It’s important.”  Considering what passes for current events, sometimes maybe it’s best that they didn’t pay attention.

 

More school cuts to come in Dade

Summer school will be delayed next year and there will be fewer adult education classes under a budget the Miami-Dade School Board approved Wednesday, as officials braced for millions of dollars more in state-mandated cuts later this year.

 

Faith-based office downsized

Less money, fewer employees in mayor’s proposed budget

Jacksonville’s faith-based office won’t escape the budget ax of Mayor John Peyton, who proposes slashing its funds almost 50 percent and its staff from five to three employees. 

 

Wellington getting new school on Aug. 22

As enrollment drops, demand dwindles for new campuses

The Mighty Pirates are finally here.  That’s the mascot for Emerald Cove Middle School in Wellington, which will debut Aug. 22 as the only new Palm Beach County school in the coming school year.

 

Hallandale park plan stuns mobile-home owners

Hallandale Beach officials are preparing to buy the land out from under about 85 low-income residents of the Tower Mobile Home and RV Park.

 

Lawmakers urge hearings on DCF

Democratic leaders in the Florida Legislature asked top lawmakers Thursday to convene a series of oversight hearings into recent scandals at the state’s long-troubled child welfare agency, including the recent rape of a Miami foster girl.

 

Absentee section of FHSAA testing policy raises concerns

It was the part that dealt with students absent from school on the day a random, unannounced test is conducted. The FHSAA procedures, released Wednesday, state that “regardless of the reason why a student-athlete does not report to be tested when called (including an excused absence), the student-athlete must be immediately suspended from practice and competition in all interscholastic sports until a specimen is provided.”

 

Audit Faults KidCare Spending

TALLAHASSEE – Florida’s health insurance program for low-income children misspent at least $18.7 million in federal money during the first half of 2005, federal auditors estimated in a report released Thursday.

 

Palm Beach County schools appeal grades, status

Six Palm Beach County schools say they deserve a better report card.  The state Department of Education is reviewing appeals from Village Academy in Delray Beach, Wellington Landings Middle, Dwight D. Eisenhower Elementary and Allamanda Elementary in Palm Beach Gardens, Discovery Key Elementary west of Lake Worth and Lantana Elementary.

 

Preschool, charters mix

Preschoolers and Christa McAuliffe Charter Elementary have proven to be a good match.  What started as an idea to fill two empty classrooms last year at the new city-run charter school has turned into a popular program for parents of 4- and 5-year-old children.

 

Life Term for Teen in Principal’s Death

A 16-year-old was sentenced Friday to life in prison with the possibility of parole for the shooting death of his high school principal.

 

FBI, State Investigating Inflated Home Prices

TAMPA – The Federal Bureau of Investigation has joined forces with the Florida Office of Financial Services to investigate dozens of Pinellas County homes sold at inflated prices. The transactions, which involved large assignment fees paid to third parties, were uncovered in two Tampa Tribune reports last fall.