Broward Schools & Property Tax Edition: Capitol to Courthouse Headliners — Monday, April 25
Apr 25, 2011
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Blog: Florida Governor Scott’s pitches new corporate tax cut idea but can’t quite get the votes
Using a budgetary sleight of hand, Governor Rick Scott has found a way to keep his promise to cut corporate taxes this year and presented the idea to the Senate on Good Friday.
Governor Scott won’t sign Florida budget without tax cuts
Governor Rick Scott says he won’t sign a budget without tax cuts. Scott threw down that gauntlet Friday in his weekly radio address.
Schools grapple with budget cuts
Completely virtual 7th period classes. Teacher furloughs. Layoffs of hundreds of school employees. Four-day school weeks. Fewer school buses.
Florida localities have a hard time holding the line
Governments raised property tax rates last year in 51 of the state’s 67 counties and 169 out of 390 cities and towns, according to a Herald-Tribune analysis of new data from the Florida Department of Revenue.
Florida taxpayers are funding the salaries of 126 communications department workers in state agencies earning a total of more than $7.3 million annually, and 71 legislative affairs employees earning more than $4.3 million a year. Click here to get the report.
Court: Navarre Beach property can be taxed
An appellate court has decided owners of homes and businesses at Navarre Beach are liable for property tax on land beneath the building that they lease rather than own.
News Release: Second Committee Passes Senator Diaz De la Portilla’s Homestead Exemption Bill
The Florida Senate Judiciary Committee today unanimously passed a joint resolution to propose a Florida constitutional amendment authorizing counties to exempt the homesteads of eligible senior citizens from increases in ad valorem taxation.
Palm Beach County on alert as budget-cutting lawmakers snip programs
With two weeks left until the legislative session ends, local officials are warily watching as Florida lawmakers try to cut $3.8 billion from the state budget.
Effort to privatize Florida prisons raises questions of cost
Florida lawmakers are poised to make dramatic changes to the state’s prison system, turning over as many as 14 prisons to private companies in hopes of trimming the cost of housing the state’s criminals.
Opinion: Spending on schools like its 1976? What it means
In 1976, Florida spent the equivalent of $6,200 per pupil. In 2011, Florida Gov. Rick Scott wants to spend $6,200 per pupil.
Editorial: Amendment further enshrines patchwork of exemptions
THE ISSUE: Proposed property tax changes. OUR OPINION: Constitutional amendment isn’t the answer.
Opinion: State ducks ‘paramount’ duty
As if we needed more proof of Florida’s dismal support for public education, the state has come out with its annual financial report on school funding. In the words of a reporter for the Tampa Tribune, the report shows that “the state’s share has dropped like a rock.”
Editorial: Homeowners in agony
The ACLU’s lawsuit challenging Lee County’s “rocket docket” may be about one person facing foreclosure, but it has implications for anyone who has stood before a judge and had only seconds to argue to try to keep his or her home.
Editorial: Start to rescue the cities
To reward police and firefighter unions for their role in the Republicans’ rise to power, the Legislature and newly installed Governor Bush in 1999 – before the legislative session was a week old – forced Florida cities into a system under which police and fire pensions could only get fatter, never leaner.
Ohio soil and water districts might seek property taxes to offset state cuts
Reducing state funding for county soil and water conservation districts might force them to cut workers and services, and it might prompt at least one district to seek its first local property-tax levy, officials say.
City of Boston sends ‘tax’ bills to major nonprofits
For the first time, Boston’s major tax-exempt institutions – its premier hospitals, universities, and cultural centers – are being asked to make regular voluntary payments to the city based on the value of their property to help offset the rising cost of city services and cuts in state financial aid.
Commentary: Taking the shirts off kids backs
Let’s be clear about what the budget proposals in Lansing really mean for Michigan citizens: The plan by Governor Rick Snyder and legislative leaders offers an 86% cut in business taxes at the expense of people who can least afford to sacrifice.
House, Senate Look to Cut Higher Education Funds
Here’s a big item on the Legislature’s to-do list: agree how much to spend on higher education. Counting everything from classrooms to construction projects, colleges and universities come out about $500 million ahead under the Senate budget.
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