Broward Schools & Property Tax Edition: Capitol to Courthouse Headliners–December 30
Dec 30, 2008
To view a complete story, click on a headline below:
House Speaker Sansom Releases Special Session Schedule Summary
The Office of Florida House Speaker Ray Sansom released a proposed schedule summary for the upcoming Legislative Special Session today, December 30, 2008.
Lawmakers reacted coolly to Crist’s proposal heading into the Legislature’s Jan. 5 special session to balance the $66.3 billion budget.
No layoffs in governor’s budget proposal
Gov. Charlie Crist’s deficit reduction plan is heavy on cutting spending, borrowing money and shifting funds, but it avoids tax and fee increases as well as employee furloughs and layoffs.
Gov. Crist: Chiles fund will be repaid fast
Gov. Charlie Crist said Wednesday he tried to make budget cuts as painless as possible in his proposal to plug a $2.3 billion hole in the state’s spending plan.
EDITORIAL: Portability’s pitfall
Turning a property tax break into a loophole
Save Our Homes isn’t a flawed tax amendment looking for a fix. It’s a fundamentally inequitable amendment that should be repealed. It guarantees that assessments on homesteaded properties won’t increase by more than 3 percent a year. Property taxes on commercial, industrial and nonhomesteaded properties aren’t capped, so they carry a disproportionate burden of overall taxes.
State law loophole lets Florida public officials retire, then return to their jobs
This year some of Florida’s public officials are giving a whole new meaning to the phrase “home for the holidays.”
EDITORIAL: Crist offers half a proposal to escape the budget crisis
Gov. Crist’s approach to trimming the current-year budget is to put off today’s problems until tomorrow. His defense is that “economically, it’s raining in Florida.” But the rainfall is turning into a storm, making this a particularly bad time to give away umbrellas.
Florida lags in school funding
Florida ranks below the national average for teachers’ pay and per pupil spending, according to the 65th annual report from the country’s largest teachers’ union.
OP-ED: Fla. Must Find Revenue For Children
After receiving a high-quality education from a public school and public university in this state, I spent the next 35 years in service and advocacy to Florida’s children. There has never been a time when I was more afraid for the children in Florida than I am now.
Florida legislators ponder future of state’s Bright Futures college scholarships – again
For years, the college scholarships have been regarded as untouchable. But lawmakers are facing more pressure to make major changes.
The extreme financial pressures facing Florida are forcing lawmakers to take a hard look at everything the state offers, no matter how popular.
OP-ED: Legislature’s vouchers report is based on smoke and mirrors
A program intended to prompt corporate contributions for private-school tuition assistance saves the state money, according to a recent report prepared for the Florida Legislature. The program gives tax credits to corporations in exchange for their contributions, and the report contends that for every dollar lost in revenue due to the tax credits, the state last year saved $1.49 in forgone public-school expenses.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Tax credit scholarships help students, save money
The numbers are hard to refute. Florida taxpayers saved $38.9 million last year while also providing different learning options to 21,493 children from poor and working-class families. But that finding, issued Tuesday by the state Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability, should not be interpreted as a competitive threat to traditional public schools.
More students get state to pay private tuition
More than two years ago, the state stopped giving tuition vouchers to students who wanted to leave failing public schools for private school. Since then, Florida’s other two programs that pay private-school tuition for disabled kids or poor children have grown by 21 percent and 65 percent respectively.
COLUMN: In tough budget times, expect no mercy for OPS
With the state budget in even greater trouble that usual, thousands of state government employees must have held down their holiday spending in anticipation of hard times.
EDITORIAL: Lawmakers Must Trim Pricey Pensions
A program that began quietly a decade ago is attracting close attention now that increasing numbers of veteran workers in state and local governments qualify to get both retirement pay and a big salary.
Seniors urged to renew Miami-Dade’s property tax exemption
The Limited Income Senior Exemption can save seniors hundreds of dollars in property taxes, but Florida law requires that they file a renewal application annually to receive the benefit.
The real estate decline – at least as it is measured by property appraisers – is hitting hardest so far in Southwest Florida.
Four counties — Sarasota, Charlotte, Lee and Collier — are projected to account for more than 40 percent of the erosion in Florida’s tax base in 2007 and 2008.
Tax idea divides Jupiter residents
When Phil Cipolla heard that tax dollars might help pay for Harbourside, he figured the town was taking too much risk.
Military tax benefit deadline looms
The last day of 2008 also marks the last day that active military personnel and their families can apply for a $1,000 tax exemption in Flagler County.
Have an idea to raise cash? City is listening
That could be the tune, more of a folksy blues harmony about a city struggling with unemployment and violent crime.
The refrain, perhaps a question: Where’s the money coming from?
EDITORIAL: Put casino pact on agenda
With cuts to education and law enforcement on the table and raids planned on a trust fund reserved for health in next month’s special legislative session on the budget, it’s wrong for legislative leaders to refuse to consider ratifying Gov. Charlie Crist’s Seminole gambling pact until the March regular session. This pact could bring 135 million sorely needed dollars to the state, which is trying to plug a $2.3 billion deficit.
Attorney General Bill McCollum today called on local governments, sheriffs and school districts to make government transparency their New Year’s Resolution and to commit to providing enhanced access to information before Sunshine Sunday in March. In a letter sent to Florida’s sheriffs, county commissions and school boards, the Attorney General reminded local leaders that with advances in technology, government in the sunshine can be as easy as uploading information to public websites.
FCAT Fix Is Flawed, Critics Say
Last spring, Florida lawmakers sought to ease the pressure the FCAT applied on public high schools by developing a more rounded appraisal of student performance.
Florida schools failing to meet federal guidelines
More than 1,000 Florida public schools do not meet federal academic standards and are drifting toward failure.
As fees soar, fewer apply for teacher certification
Jessica Mutter is applying for National Board Certification in teaching, as her husband did last year. The only difference: James Mutter’s application fee for the prestigious certification was $250. Jessica’s preliminary fee: $2,500.
Florida seeks to cut ESOL teachers’ training requirement
Training may be reduced for teachers whose students’ native tongue is not English
Clara E. Martinez stood in front of her middle-school students at Coral Way K-8 Center in Miami and asked them what was on her feet.
Researchers leaving Fla. and taking their grants
When a lead Florida State University researcher needed five faculty members last year to start a landmark center dedicated to studying autism, state budget cuts prevented the school from hiring the additional professors.
EDITORIAL: Supporting education
Good teachers make for good schools, and students with a greater chance of success in life and solid contributions to society.
South Florida economic outlook just as bleak for 2009
If the economy seemed bad this year, 2009 may shape up even worse.
There was one major direction that the business news took in 2008. Down.
Florida 2008: The year in review
State weathered storms, gas lines and budget woes
The book on Florida in 2008 was highlighted by elections on either end – a January vote to cut taxes and a November trip to the polls that turned the state blue – with a recurring theme throughout:
To unsubscribe from this newsletter, please send an e-mail to ccochran@cftlaw.com