Where Have We Been, Where Are We Going Lets Restore the Partnership

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Where Have We Been,Where Are We Going Lets
Restore the Partnership

• October 13, 2008
• Florida Learning First Alliance

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Florida Historically

• Diverse population
• Settled along regions due to railroads
• Florida East Coast Northeastern transplants
• Florida West Coast Midwestern transplants
• Cheap
• Low cost environment
• Low tax environment
• Mickey Mouse
• Late 1960s Walt Disney thought Orlando would be a
  good place for a theme park
• Florida not the same since
• Mega-metropolis in the central part of the state
• Tourism (used to be winter, now summer as well)
• Tax Dependency
• Sales Tax (tourism)
• Ad Valorem Tax (property)

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Tax ReformTen-year() Window

• Inequities begin(homestead v. non-homestead)
• 1982 25,000 homestead exemption added to the
  Constitution.
• 1992 Save our Homes citizen initiative passed
• Legislative stress builds
• Article 5
• DJJ Litigation
• Mandates preemptions

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Tax Reform Five-year Window

• Major housing boom
• Value increases
• Six major hurricanes
• Concept of portability

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Tax Reform Two-year Window

• November 2006
• Marco Rubio elected Speaker of the Florida House
  of Representatives
• Charlie Crist runs for Florida Governor on an
  anti-tax platform
• January 2007
• Crist sworn in as Governor
• Tax debate intensifies
• March 2007
• FAC releases Where Did the Money Go?
• Taxation and Budget Reform Commission begins
  meetings

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Tax ReformTwo-year Window

• Regular Legislative Session (March- May 2007)
• No property tax reform passes
• Special Session B (June 2007)
• HB 1B Statutory Tax Relief
• Constitutional Tax Relief and Reform
• Statutory package (18 dirty words)
• Set referendum for January 2008 Presidential
  Primary Ballot
• Court Challenge (September 2007)
• Supreme Court strikes Constitutional package from
  the ballot
• Special Session C (October 3-12)
• No deal was made

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Tax ReformTwo-year Window

• Special Session C Extended (October 12-29)
• New Constitutional Proposal
• Double the Homestead Exemption
• Portability of Save Our Homes
• Assessment cap of 10 on non-homestead properties
• TPP exemption up to 25,000
• Statutory Implementation
• Holds fiscally constrained counties harmless
• President Primary Ballot (January 2008)
• Constitution proposal passes with 64 approval

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Taxation and Budget Reform Commission

• Proposals for the November 2008 ballot
• Amendment 5 Replaces ad valorem taxes for
  schools with variety of options including
  additional sales tax reduces non-homestead cap
  from 10 to 5 (removed from ballot by Florida
  Supreme Court)
• Amendment 6 Working waterfronts relief
• Amendment 4 Conservation land exemption
• Amendment 9 School vouchers (removed from
  ballot by Florida Supreme Court)
• TABOR killed in Florida
• Team Effort!

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Looking Ahead

• Restore the Partnership
• Hometown Democracy
• Rubios 1.35 Plan
• TABOR
• Bad Economy (Credit/Borrowing)
• Falling Property Values (Tax Revenues)
• How do we maintain our quality of life?