Be careful

For those of you waiting for a decision on property tax reduction from the Florida Legislature, you will have to wait a few more weeks. The Florida House, Senate and Governor cannot agree on the language necessary to give Floridians relief from high property taxes in the last few days of this Legislative session. In fact, the term rancorous has been used by the media to describe this stand-off by by House Speaker, Marcio Rubio, Governor Charlie Crist and Senate president Ken Pruitt. All talks have been suspended on property tax reduction in the Florida Legislature until a special session is held for June 5-15, 2007.

Many groups have expressed concerns about the impact that these proposed reductions could have on our economy. One main item of concern that has not been fully addressed is non-homesteaded properties that include commercial property. If your first thought is so what, businesses make enough money, think again. Commercial property owners already pay a lion's share of the property taxes in this state and without proper oversight by our Legislature on carefully structured property tax reduction, the economy could come to a screeching halt. The business community, which includes the tourist related property, cannot bear the burden of increased property taxes.

The term "be careful what you wish for" should be the motto of our House, Senate and Governor when they bang the gavel on June 5th, the first day of the special session...