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Rubio: Nix On Cutting State-Required Property Taxes

Posted May 25, 2007 by William March

Updated May 25, 2007 at 11:25 PM

State House Speaker Marco Rubio, who proclaims himself a leading opponent of high property taxes, says Gov. Charlie Crist’s vetoes of state budget “turkeys” won’t provide the ability for the Legislature to cut the property taxes it requires the counties to collect.

The argument, between Republican Rubio and legislative Democrats, is an elaborate game of political positioning being played in advance of a special session on property taxes to be held in June.

The underlying fact is that Crist vetoed $459 million worth of legislator’s pet projects, sometimes called “turkeys,” when he signed the state budget bill this week.

Some legislators couldn’t help but notice that amount was close to the amount by which the Legislature in the regular session forced counties to increase the property taxes they collect for schools—the so-called “Required Local Effort.” Did that mean Crist was laying the groundwork to demand a tax “cut” of the same amount? Crist said it was just a coincidence.

But Friday, Democratic House leaders seized on the vetoes as an opportunity to suggest an easy tax cut. They sent a letter to Crist and GOP legislative leaders suggesting that since Crist had cut the budget $459 million, they could eliminate the increase in property taxes they forced on the counties by the same amount.

Rubio responded within hours in a letter of his own, saying no way.

His reason: “The dollars returned to the state treasury by the Governor’s vetoes are insufficient to eliminate any increase in the Required Local Effort. Additionally, the bulk of those dollars are trust funded monies that can not be used without a change to our trust fund laws.”

Rubio said “the bulk” of Crist’s cuts came from items that would be paid for by special trust funds, not general revenue funds, so the cuts couldn’t justify a reduction in property taxes. He didn’t provide any figures.

The rest of Rubio’s letter is filled with taunts at the Democrats over their opposition to the tax plan he proposed during the regular session—eliminating property taxes on homesteads entirely, and replacing them with a big increase in the state sales tax. The GOP-led Senate, Democrats and Crist all opposed the plan, as did businesses that didn’t want big increases in sales taxes on the products they sell.

But Rubio is still pushing it, even though he has signalled willingness to accept an alternative.

“Perhaps your caucus also is willing to reconsider their opposition to eliminating school property taxes and replacing them with a fairer way to tax—a consumption tax,” he said in the letter.