Peyton makes appeal to GOP contingent
Jacksonville Mayor John Peyton on Thursday morning took the extraordinary step of asking Duval County's Republican-dominated legislative delegation to vote against their own party's $16 billion constitutional amendment proposal.
Peyton aide Adam Hollingsworth carried the message in an early-morning delegation meeting, telling Jacksonville's representatives that the $100 million impact on the city's budget was simply too much.
The request was extraordinary because Peyton is known for his strong GOP ties and effective working relationship with prominent Republican leaders such as former Gov. Jeb Bush and Gov. Charlie Crist.
The mayor did not ask legislators to vote against the $15.6 billion in property tax cuts that comprise the other half of the Republican-written package.
Rep. Dick Kravitz, R-Jacksonville, a former Jacksonville city councilman and a member of a special legislative committee that studied the state's property tax situation, said he hasn't decided whether to grant the mayor's unusual request.
If the amendment passes, Kravitz emphasized that voters will get the final say anyway.
"It may not be the best plan, but we did the best we could to bring forth something for the public to consider," he said. "Those who believe it would cripple us, like the mayor, will have a chance to make their case before the election."
- J. Taylor Rushing/The Times-Union
Peyton aide Adam Hollingsworth carried the message in an early-morning delegation meeting, telling Jacksonville's representatives that the $100 million impact on the city's budget was simply too much.
The request was extraordinary because Peyton is known for his strong GOP ties and effective working relationship with prominent Republican leaders such as former Gov. Jeb Bush and Gov. Charlie Crist.
The mayor did not ask legislators to vote against the $15.6 billion in property tax cuts that comprise the other half of the Republican-written package.
Rep. Dick Kravitz, R-Jacksonville, a former Jacksonville city councilman and a member of a special legislative committee that studied the state's property tax situation, said he hasn't decided whether to grant the mayor's unusual request.
If the amendment passes, Kravitz emphasized that voters will get the final say anyway.
"It may not be the best plan, but we did the best we could to bring forth something for the public to consider," he said. "Those who believe it would cripple us, like the mayor, will have a chance to make their case before the election."
- J. Taylor Rushing/The Times-Union
posted by J.T. Rushing at
10:44 AM
1 Comments:
I have no problem paying my fair share of taxes to maintain basic civil services. I believe that most citizens who are reasonable about this would be willing too as well. Clearly, there must be a source of revenue to maintain operations.
I pay $2900 a year. This is up from $900 when I purchased this house two years ago - a $2000.00 increase!!!! I have no problem paying 1000 or even 1200 year, but $2900 is unfair. And there are others worse off than me. It is bad enough that the price of gas, food and all goods have increased.
The school board portion of our property tax is about 50% of our tax bill in Duval County. Originally, Crist suggested to eliminate the school board taxes and raise sales tax 1 cent state wide and shift the responsibility of our schools to everyone. I have no kids that attend or attended public schools and never did. There are many like me who financially support schools. Why do parents of children living in apartments not required to pay their fair share. An earlier report indicated a $35 billion net increase shifting school taxes. This is a great idea. What happened to that now? Still, billions come in federal dollars for funding
Why not just put all the state lotto dollars back to its original and sole use/purpose - schools! Imagine the problems we will have if immigration reform passes and all these illegals get in, we are in trouble.
Clearly, if this amendment goes to the voter's we will eliminate all the money we can coming from our pockets.
Present us with something that is meaningful and viable. Something that will will protect us from future political regimes after you all have left office! An amendment is the only true assurance we have.
Reducing now, only to have loopholes to allow increases later, will serve no purpose, but that of government.
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