Broward Schools & Property Tax Edition: Capitol to Courthouse Headliners–Nov. 12

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Poll: Voters not sold on property-tax plan

Florida voters are not enthusiastic enough about the Legislature’s proposed property-tax plan to pass it if the election to approve it were held today, and a new poll shows that they like it even less after they learn of its possible side effects.

 

Tax-cut enemies plot its demise

Florida’s property-tax overhaul was packaged to win voter approval — with Gov. Charlie Crist and lawmakers careful to include only items popular with homeowners and businesses.

 

The accidental amendment

The property tax amendment on the Jan. 29 ballot was hastily assembled out of spare parts and leftovers by a Legislature short of time. It’s a cautionary tale of power politics.

 

Public employee unions target plan to overhaul property taxes

‘This is the wrong place, wrong time for this kind of thing,’ said Bob Carver, president of the Florida Professional Firefighters Association, whose 22,500 members are pledging $500,000 toward a campaign against the measure.

 

League of Cities to fight tax reform
 
The Florida League of Cities, wrapping up an annual legislative conference in Orlando, decided Friday to fight a $12 billion property tax-relief package that lawmakers placed on the Jan. 29 ballot.

 

Many renters find nowhere to go

Low-income renters in Miami face one of the most burdensome markets in the country, with spiraling housing costs and stagnant wages pricing them out of their homes at a ”worrisome” pace, concludes a study released Friday by Florida International University.

 

Look north for a familiar tax fight

An aggressive House Speaker wants a brash idea to almost eliminate property taxes while raising sales taxes, only to see his more moderate fellow Republican in the governor’s office gently pooh-pooh the plan.

 

Wrong way, Fla.

Property insurance rates are about to turn John Melkun into a Pasco County refugee, as he considers following in his brother’s footsteps to sink new roots in South Carolina.

 

Gelber: attorney, legislator, family man

State Rep. Dan Gelber is the Democratic House Leader of the Florida House of Representatives from Dist. 106 in Miami.

 

Jonathan Kozol: Keeping good teachers is the true test

Teachers, writes education activist Jonathan Kozol, are not ‘drill sergeants for the state.’ Yet in many of America’s 93,000 public schools, the high-stakes testing environment fueled by the No Child Left Behind law has left teachers feeling like ‘robotic drones’ who regurgitate mandated curriculum.

 

Restraints needed

I’ve been thinking about buying a flat-screen TV for the bedroom. It’s in the budget. But I’ve also been feeling pain in a couple of molars when I bite down hard. Unfortunately, it’s probably time for root canal work, but that isn’t in the budget.

 

Summit addresses problems facing state’s boating industry

FORT LAUDERDALE Waterfront property taxes are soaring. Fewer workers are entering the field. And businesses are moving in droves to North Carolina.

 

FCAT not too scary; come to tax reform forum

I’ll admit it, I had butterflies in my stomach the entire time I was taking the fifth-grade science FCAT last Tuesday.