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Legislative leaders agree to presidential primary tax relief voteTALLAHASSSEE, Fla. (AP) –

June 5, 2007 – Voters would get a chance to approve property tax relief and restructuring proposals during the Jan. 29 presidential primary election, legislative leaders agreed Monday. Rep. Dean Cannon, who chairs a joint select committee on property taxation, announced the agreement during the panel’s last scheduled meeting before a special legislative session set for June 12-22. Cannon, though, said another meeting may be held the day before the special session.

The election date agreement between House Speaker Marco Rubio, R-West Miami, and Senate President Ken Pruitt, R-Port St. Lucie, follows their approval last week of a basic outline for the pending property tax reduction and overhaul.“There is already a statewide election on that date,” Cannon, R-Winter Park, said. “There will be no additional cost to the people of Florida to have the election.”

The Legislature, during its regular session that ended a month ago, passed a new law that moved the primary up from March so that Florida would have more influence on the selection of presidential candidates.Gov. Charlie Crist made a brief appearance before the committee shortly after returning Monday from a trade mission to Israel and Jordan, where he said he ran into a Florida couple who urged him to cut taxes.

Crist greeted the lawmakers with “shalom,” the Hebrew word for hello, and thanked them for their hard work on the tax issue.“It’s complex and it’s difficult. Most importantly, it is very important to the people of our state,” he said.

The committee then heard presentations on some secondary property tax issues but took no action. They included a non-controversial proposal to exempt the first $25,000 of value on equipment and other personal property that taxes businesses.

The panel also discussed options for providing additional tax breaks to affordable housing, low-income senior citizens and working waterfronts such as marinas and commercial and charter fishing docks.Piggybacking a vote on one or more amendments to the Florida Constitution onto the presidential primary also would give local governments plenty of time to comply with the revisions before their next budget year begins Oct. 1, 2008, Cannon said.

If voters reject the proposals – it takes 60 percent approval to amend the constitution – lawmakers also would have time to offer them something else on the November 2008 general ballot, he said.Cannon said putting property taxes on the ballot at the same time that presidential candidates are seeking Florida primary votes also may make them more sensitive to issues important to the Sunshine State.

The long-term constitutional approach to which Rubio and Pruitt have agreed would do away with the existing $25,000 homestead exemption for primary homes and, for most homeowners, the benefits they get from the Save Our Homes Amendment, which limits increases in homestead assessments to 3 percent annually.Instead, primary homeowners would get a tiered, percentage-based super exemption. For example, the first $100,000 of a home’s value might be 70 percent exempt, the next $100,000 would be 50 percent exempt and so on. Homeowners, though, would be able to keep their Save Our Homes benefits if those are better than the super exemption.The percentages will be worked out after other details of the legislation are agreed to, Cannon said.

Pruitt and Rubio also have agreed to short-term property tax relief the Legislature can pass immediately without a constitutional amendment.It would include cuts linked to how much each local government has increased taxes in recent years. Cities and counties that raised taxes the most would have the biggest cuts.Future taxes then would be capped, but local government bodies could exceed the limit either through a vote of something more than a majority or by putting the issue before voters.

Details haven’t yet been worked out.The leaders also have agreed to exempt schools from the tax cuts.