Realty Blog

The state is appealing a Leon County circuit judge's ruling that the "Super" Homestead Exemption lawmakers put on the Jan. 29th ballot to phase out the Save Our Homes limit is misleading and confusing. The legislature has until Oct. 31st to either fix the proposal or put a different one on the ballot instead.

Gov. Charlie Crist has said House Speaker Marco Rubio, and President Ken Pruitt should call another special session after this one to deal with the property tax issue. The two have agreed to do so, but that's the extent of the agreement.

Rubio on Wednesday repeated his belief that property taxes are unfair and that he would prefer even larger cuts than the super-exemption would provide.

"If we do not address the issue of property tax reform, we will have to have several of these (budget cutting special sessions) in the years to come," Rubio said.

In the Senate, though, leaders worry that even some Republicans who supported the proposal in June would oppose it now because of the reductions in education funding that it probably will require.

An even bigger roadblock: Putting a question on the Jan. 29th ballot, rather than the Nov. 2008 general election, would require a three-quarters vote of both chambers.

Because Democrats hold slightly more than one-third of the seats in both House and Senate, they effectively hold veto power on the Jan. 29th ballot question.

PB Post