Broward Schools & Property Tax Edition: Capitol to Courthouse Headliners–Sept. 24

Click on a headline to read the complete story:

 

Judge rejects proposed property tax-cutting amendment

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — A tax-slashing amendment is off the Jan. 29 presidential primary ballot – at least temporarily – after a judge Monday ruled an accompanying explanation for voters is unconstitutionally misleading and inaccurate.

 

‘Super-size’ amendment ordered off the state ballot

A proposed constitutional amendment to increase Florida’s homestead exemption has been ordered off the Jan. 29 statewide ballot by a Leon County judge.

 

Mudslingers outsmarted by Weston mayor

Eleven-hundred attack ads on cable TV. A citywide telephone campaign. Another whacking via mail. A not-very-subtle search-for-dirt through the mayor’s office financial records.

 

Tallahassee’s Visigoths Are On the Way

Gov. Charlie Crist swings the ax of tax cuts widely and wildly. It is an ax that takes fat, skin – and sometimes muscle and bone as well – from everyone. Faced with a state budget shortfall last week, Crist lopped $2 million from the $4 million he had proposed giving the Florida citrus industry for its fight against citrus disease.

 

Building firm should know building codes

ISSUE: Audit faults classroom inspections.

The Broward school district audit committee has plenty of good reasons to be upset with an inspection process that raised questions about the safety of almost 500 new classrooms.

 

Perfect: Two Broward teens achieve rare 36s on ACT college exam

Before two of the nation’s brightest students tell you who they are, they want to tell you what they’re not.

 

Taxpayer’s cry: “Not apathy, more a feeling of helplessness”

OK, I get it. After seeing the anemic turnout at government budget hearings across South Florida and wondering where all the anger over property taxes went, I wrote last week that apathy had returned. But scores of you responded to let me know that it’s not apathy, just discouragement and disgust.

 

Advocacy groups rap Florida for cutting pre-kindergarten budget
 
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — A national advocacy group rapped Florida in a report released Tuesday for being the only state this year to cut its overall prekindergarten budget, even though per-student spending increased by $117, or 4.6 percent.

 

School Crossing Guard Training Funds Disputed

NEW PORT RICHEY, FL – County officials and Sheriff’s Office leaders grew cross about funding for school crossing guards during a fifth special budget meeting today.

 

State Cuts May Hurt Highlands County

SEBRING — Three proposed state budget cuts may hit Highlands County particularly hard:

 

Numbers show it’s hard to rate privatization

Governments love numbers, but we should always be wary of drawing conclusions based solely on statistics.

 

Can you pass this test?

”If you can read this, thank a teacher,” says the bumper sticker on the car in front of me. But literacy is more than the ability to read a bumper sticker.  

 

Fewer students, fewer new schools in Broward

John O’Farrill was born and raised in South Florida, but three years ago he, his wife and young daughter packed up and headed to Hiram, Ga.

 

Seminoles keep gaming suit alive

Though gambling negotiations between the Seminoles and Gov. Charlie Crist seem bogged down by politics, the tribe hasn’t forgotten about Plan B: a lawsuit in Miami federal court.

 

Unsold homes could be affordable housing

Thanks to the merciless housing downturn, there are more than 80,000 unsold homes and condos in Miami-Dade and Broward, according to EWM statistics.

 

Is It Something in the Water?
           
Recent notes from Long Island’s wide, wacky world of special taxing districts, courtesy of the Nassau comptroller, Howard Weitzman.