The “Yes on 1—Save our Homes NOW” campaign recently unveiled a new web commercial highlighting Keith and Elizabeth Markowitz, Orlando residents who will benefit from the Amendment 1 tax cuts.
“Property owners are overwhelmed by their taxes, and families like the Markowitz’s deserve a break,” said Governor Crist. “Amendment 1 provides relief for all homeowners and I urge Floridians to vote Yes on 1 on January 29th.”
If the measure passes, the proposed property tax amendment will have far reaching implication for everyone involved.
At present, the measure proposes to: (1) increase the homestead exemption and (2) enable “portability” that would allow homestead property owners to transfer up to $500,000.00 of their Save Our Homes benefits to a new homestead property.
Currently $25,000.00 of a homes value is exempt from all property tax. The amendment would provide another $25,000.00 exemption on homes valued over $50,000.00. However, the new exemption only applies to the local government portion a tax bill. It will not apply to school taxes, so in actuality the new exemption only amounts to about $15,000.00. Tax experts say the actual savings will average about $220.00 to $240.00 per year.
Many residents around the state are looking at what is perceived as a tax cut, but fail to consider that the actual tax savings is very, very small – about $20.00 per month. The real impact of the Saver Our Homes amendment is its impact on local governments, particularly small town’s and its dramatic impact on school districts.
Experts are projecting that that the amendment could cost Florida public schools over $200 million next year and exceed $2.76 billion over the next 5 years. School districts will have a very difficult time absorbing the losses, especially when coupled with the budget cuts they are already experiencing from Tallahassee.
Earlier this year, the Florida Legislature cut the education education budget by $500 million. Additionally, the most most recent revenue estimates show state revenues declining even further and will likely result in additional cuts to education next year. Overall, public schools, community colleges ans universities are facing budget cuts exceed $1.7 billion in less than 12 months.
All of this is occurring at a time when education in Florida is at a crossroads. Politicians talk about creating a world class education system while continuing to underfund the system that they claim to want to improve.
Many wonder how the state can declare its commitment to improve the system, including smaller class sizes, focusing on learning instead of testing, reducing the high school drop-out rate , while at the same time dramatically reducing the funding for accomplishing these goals.
If the proposed property tax reform passes, it will be a major setback for Florida schools, and its future generations.
