Recent polling by two reputable polling firms suggest that as of today the "Super Exemption" ballot question will fail at the polls Jan 29th. A group of business leaders led by the Florida Chamber and supported by the Governor are funding a campaign to reverse the trend. You may have already heard some of the radio ads playing locally. After my own meetings this week with House leadership I believe we are going to be right back where we were last year prior to the start of Session. The Speaker believes that the current tax reductions accompished little and that municipal governments are to blame. He is rolling out again his proposal to eliminate all property taxes and replace the dollars with increased sales taxes. He has also mentioned that not providing relief to non-homesteaded property was a mistake. He and his leadership are also very uncomfortable with local government fee increases.
I fear last years battle was just a warm up for this year.
I would suggest that we again reconvene the various groups coordinated by Rhonda and the League, so that local elected officials to start to strategize. I also encourage our City Managers, who were led by Jeff Miller, Mike Levinson and John Stunson to start looking again at all possible arguements and options as we head into the new cycle.
| http://www.floridahomesteadservices.com |
