Committees approve property tax cut

A pair of legislative committees approved a $31.6 billion property tax cut package for Floridians on Wednesday even as party-line divisions put its future in doubt.
Voting separately, the House Policy & Budget Council and Senate Finance & Tax Committee both approved a $15 billion tax rollback/cap plan, as well as a Jan. 29 constitutional amendment vote on a new, expanded homestead exemption that would replace the state's "Save Our Homes" provision. The measures now go to the full House and Senate floors, with the House scheduled to meet tonight and the Senate meeting tomorrow.
Critical differences remain between Republicans, who control the Legislature, and Democrats, who say the cuts will devastate local government services. A difficult three-fourths vote is required in both the House and Senate for the constitutional amendment, and Democrats locked down in opposition to the amendment. While their approval wasn't required for Wednesday's committee vote, their opposition may make the full floor votes razor-close in the coming days.
Debate Wednesday was often tense. Republican Rep. Dean Cannon of Winter Park, a leading House negotiator, bristled when Democrat Mary Brandenberg suggested the state would have to take drastic steps such as close prisons to make up the $7 billion in school funding cuts that would come with a successful constitutional amendment. Cannon said the suggestion was "inappropriate," and noted that legislators have proven capable in the past of finding billions of dollars for needed priorities.
The amendment, if approved by voters, would replace the "Save Our Homes" provision with a new homestead exemption of 75 percent of the first $200,000 in home value and an additional 15 percent for the next $300,000. It would cost $16 billion across the state, including $100 million in Jacksonville for the first year alone.

— J. Taylor Rushing/The Times-Union