Jan 8, 2008 7:16 pm US/Eastern
Safety Concerns Expressed Over Fla. Tax Amendment
MIAMI (CBS4) ―
On January 29th, Florida's 10.5 million registered voters will head to the polls and cast their vote "for" or "against" a proposed constitutional amendment titled "Property Tax Exemptions; Limitations on Property Tax Assessments."
Firefighters, health care professionals, public safety advocates, part of a group calling itself The Florida Is Our Home grassroots coalition, discussed on Tuesday how it viewed Amendment 1 as a threat to public safety programs.
The group said that, "Amendment 1 which, if passed, provides minimal property tax relief while endangering essential community services such as education and public safety."
Florida Is Our Home is a coalition of grassroots organizations committed to campaign against the passage of Amendment 1, claiming it will have a detrimental impact on public safety programs like fire departments, law enforcement agencies, emergency medical services and critical victim services.
This revision proposes changes to the state constitution relating to property taxation. With respect to homestead property, this revision: (1) increases the homestead exemption except for school district taxes and (2) allows homestead property owners to transfer up to $500,000 of their Save-Our-Homes benefits to their next homestead. With respect to nonhomestead property, this revision (3) provides a $25,000 exemption for tangible personal property and (4) limits assessment increases for specified nonhomestead real property except for school district taxes.
For more information, click on Amendment 1.
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