Quote:
Originally Posted by Rainger99
I just got the November 8 ballot in the mail. I was aware of the Fire District referendum (still don't understand it) but I was not aware of a proposed amended to the Florida Constitution.
The ballot states:
Proposing an amendment to the State Constitution to authorize the Legislature, by general law, to grant an additional homestead tax exemption for nonschool levies of up to $50,000 of the assessed value of homestead property owned by classroom teachers, law enforcement officers, correctional officers, firefighters, emergency medical technicians, paramedics, child welfare services professionals, active duty members of the United States Armed Forces, and Florida National Guard members. This amendment shall take effect January 1, 2023.
Does anyone have any idea how many "classroom teachers, law enforcement officers, correctional officers, firefighters, emergency medical technicians, paramedics, child welfare services professionals, active duty members of the United States Armed Forces, and Florida National Guard members" live in Sumter County and what the impact will be on tax revenue?
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I don't know how many. But I'm seeing a lot of people wondering WHY. Why are they singling out this group of people to get additional homestead exemptions? A look at the bigger picture might be helpful. Maybe expanding your resource base to see "what's going on" in the great State of Florida beyond the bubble or even the county you live in. Florida needs a
higher quality and greater quantity of classroom teachers, law enforcement/correctional officers, firefighters, EMTs, paramedics, child welfare services professionals, and more National Guardsmen.
Right now, there are lots of people working in lots of jobs. Unemployment is down. That means employees can afford to be a little more picky about where they work. Florida is, for the above list of jobholders, a really lousy place to work. The people working in those jobs are underpaid, have fewer benefits, with fewer rights and more responsibility than similar jobs in other states. The state has attracted some of the worst of the worst, or not enough of even mediocre quality employees to these jobs.
What high-quality person in *those specific fields* would WANT to move to Florida and buy a home here? Answer: not enough. So give them some kind of incentive to do that. Tenants can move without much worry at all. Homeowners though - they have a vested interest in their community. And not just any homeowners - they have to actually live in those homes, to qualify. That's also why veterans aren't included in this: veterans are people who are no longer serving the military. But if they become teachers - and then buy a home here - well. Then they can get that sweet extra exemption. Hm - isn't there some kind of new legislation about that in Florida? Why yes - yes I think there is.
I'm not decided on whether or not I will vote yes for this. I think it's a political ploy, just like the 25-cent gas tax reduction in October was a political ploy. Every tax break the state gives to specific groups of people ends up costing ALL the people in the end. The gasoline tax reduction didn't affect a lot of people who live in cities, where they walk to work or take mass transit. The price of bus fare to get from State Road 7 in Plantation to the A1A in Ft. Lauderdale didn't go up. Only people who drive gas-powered vehicles benefit /directly/ from this tax reduction. By the start of the next fiscal year you'll see that the state has not earned what they should have, because of it. And SOMEONE will have to pay for it.
That someone will likely be homeowners. And the circle goes round and round.