PROview - December 2008 - (Page 8) PROActive What’s Going On in Tallahassee? By Brian Shuford, Director of Governmental Affairs Now that the 2008 elections have passed us, those in the state capitol are finally returning to governing. The 2009 Legislative Session will be packed full of issues that are crucial to the Floridians and the REALTOR® community. Anticipating Continued Declines of Revenues Florida’s budget will be the major topic of discussion this year. State economists have announced that the 2008 revenue projections were $2,000,000,000 below estimates. That’s a lot of zeros. What this means for Floridians is that the Governor and the Florida Legislature will have to decide how to cut two billion dollars of the budget for the current fiscal year, create new revenue sources, or tap into reserves. And, remember, this is only for 2008. Revenue projections for 2009 are not out yet, but you should expect the decline to continue. Currently, the Florida Legislature and the Governor are negotiating on how to cut the budget, either through a special session of the Legislature or through the Governor’s executive powers. Good News: No State Pork Unless lawmakers in Tallahassee decide to cut services and funding you should expect to see some targeted tax hikes. The most probable are raises in cigarette taxes and higher tuition at our state universities. Speaker of the House Ray Sansom and Senate President Jeff Atwater have already announced that there will be no Community Budget Issue Requests (CBIR) in the 2009 Session. CBIRs are the state of Florida’s version of “special project” or “pork”. This is good news for fiscal conservatives in the state; however, CBIRs have been quite beneficial to Pinellas County in the past. There are several other issues in this year’s session that REALTORS® should keep an eye on. It has already been announced that there will be legislation filed that would remove the recapture provision, under which property taxes increase in spite of declining property values. If this legislation were to pass, property taxes would be forced to go down along with declining property values. The Florida Association of REALTORS® has taken a position in opposition to the removal of the recapture provision because it would exacerbate inequities between homesteads and other types of property such as businesses and second homes. Want to know more about the recapture provision? Click here to view a case study. As most of you probably already know, REALTORS® successfully supported Amendments 3, 4 and 6, and all passed in the November elections. This is, however, not the end of the process. When a constitutional 8 PINELLAS REALTOR® ORGANIZATION amendment is passed in Florida it is in a very basic form and lacks clarity. The Florida Legislature is charged with the task of creating what is called “implementing language.” This will be extremely important for REALTORS® to monitor this year. Amendment 3 Amendment 3 authorized the Florida Legislature to prohibit the consideration of certain improvements and changes to property when assessing the property’s value to ad valorem taxation. These changes and improvements included those which increase resistance to wind damage, as well as the installation of renewable energy source devices. Amendment 4 Amendment 4 amended the Florida Constitution to require the state legislature to make a property tax exemption for property which is under perpetual conservation protection (as defined by general law). It also required the legislature to provide classification and assessment of land use for conservation. This applies to property taxes beginning in 2010. Amendment 6 Amendment 6 provided for the ad valorem tax assessment of waterfront property to be based on its current use. This includes land used primarily for commercial fishing purposes, land used for vessel launches to which the public has access, marinas and dry stacks that are open to the public, water-dependent marine manufacturing facilities, and marine vessel construction and repair facilities. Answers to Look for in 2009 There are many unanswered questions at the moment on how exactly these amendments will work. For example does that two-acre wetland in your neighborhood that cannot be built become exempt from property taxes? Will your HOA fees go down as a result? Is there a cap on the property tax exemption for those window shutters or solar panels you installed? Will amendment 3 be retroactive so that the roof I installed in January will qualify? As you can see the questions are almost limitless and the Florida Legislature will have their hands full in 2009. The 2009 legislative session should have plenty of slings and arrows and the fortunes of REALTORS® will have much at stake. Remember to respond to all local state and national calls to actions, as these are critical to the success of REALTOR® issues. December 2008 http://video.tampabayrealtor.com/recaptureprovision.pdf
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