Florida Property Tax Reform – What’s going on?

I am sure you are wondering what is going on with The Florida Property Tax Reform. Will there be changes?  When will changes take place?  How will this benefit me?  Will the Miami Real Estate Market Change with the proposed reforms?

You are not the only one asking these questions, there are plenty of people out there with their hands crossed in front of them waiting for these reforms to take place.

The good news is that something WILL happen, I am completely confident.  The question that remains is WHEN?

To get up to the moment news, you can sign up at www.NoMorePropertyTax.com (website has been taken down since this article was written) and get updates by Marco Rubio, Speaker at the Florida House of Representatives.

This is the latest letter sent by Marco Rubio:

100Ideas.org

Dear Property Tax Reform Supporter:

I want to give you an update on yesterdays property tax meeting in Tallahassee.

Yesterday, House and Senate leaders agreed to set the date for the constitutional referendum on property tax relief and reform for January 29, 2008. Thats also the date of Floridas Presidential Primary election, and it makes a great deal of sense to hold the election then. By combining the two votes, taxpayers will not have to pay to hold two separate elections. Further, more voters will be likely to participate in the election than if they were held separately. But most importantly, holding the election in January 2008 instead of waiting until November 2008 ensures that constitutional property tax relief will be realized for Florida property owners on the new tax bills they receive in October 2008.

As I described yesterday, we anticipate all taxpayers seeing relief this year in the form of a rollback, cut and cap.   With the vote set for January 2008, that means that property owners will receive additional relief in the form of the super exemptions on their homestead properties in October 2008, instead of waiting until October 2009. If passed by the voters, it will mean two straight years of property tax cuts, something I believe we all can support.

I also need to clarify something I wrote yesterday. House and Senate leaders are still working on the best way to cut taxes for non-homestead residential properties. In my email to you I may have sounded like an agreement had already been reached on how to cut taxes on those properties. The tax cuts I described yesterday of a flat percentage exemption for non-homestead residential properties are just one of the options that we are considering to cut taxes for those property owners. There are other options still under consideration, and I want to make sure we do not limit those options. So while we have decided to lower taxes on non-homestead properties this year under our statutory rollback, cut and cap, we are still working on the best way to cut taxes for those properties constitutionally.

We are making great progress in moving towards the largest tax relief package in the history of Florida. With the final details being decided this week, we anticipate coming to Tallahassee next week ready to cut property taxes for all Florida property owners and help ensure that the next tax bill that Floridians receive is a tax bill that they can afford.

Your support of our efforts has been crucial. Please continue to stay involved over the next two weeks so that we can bring record tax relief home to Floridians. Please visit our website at http://www.nomorepropertytax.com/ or e-mail us at info@nomorepropertytax.com for more information and updates on property tax relief. Thank you for your continued support.

 

Sincerely,

 

Marco Rubio

Speaker, Florida House of Representatives