Posted by  Mindy Montesino, Tampa, FL on 01/29  at  11:45 PM

I don’t care to utilize the phrase ‘that’s not fair’, but what better term is there? I truly believe voters saw dollar signs instead of the repercussions of what this amendment would produce. In the front door, “Look, we’ve doubled homestead...ooohhh.....ahhhh!” Out the back door, “Well, since we’ve doubled homestead, (which will essentially do NOTHING in your pocket) let’s add in this fee, this fee, & that fee…$300 is not worth the sacrifice of our local authorities, local education, etc. I agree something should be revised where it concerns property taxes but this amendment wasn’t it & won’t be it. It needs work. Good going voters….

Posted by  Brooke Sanderson, Land O Lakes on 01/29  at  09:42 PM

Admendment 1 is a joke. The response time for our public service officers and quality of education within our schools will falter if this admendment passes. I think it is interesting that people want their $250 tax break and are willing to give up valuable assets within their community. When you have a heartattack - don’t expect the paramedics to immediatly respond… and especially don’t tell the fire fighters who show up 25 mintues after you called 911 that you voted yes on admendment 1. They might watch what’s left of your house burn! Oh… and yes. When my children have 45 other children in their classroom - don’t complain about the quality of eduction our future is receiving. Hope that $250 a year break is worth it!

Posted by  Matthew Wiley, Tampa, FL on 01/29  at  08:58 PM

The idea that local governments can cut fire and police department funding and still perform the same level of service is asinine. It is a shame that it seems the citizens of this state seem to take issues at face value without looking at all aspects. Those who voted for this ammendment should remember what they did today. Especially when services are cut and others become more expensive. In my opinion, a bad trade-off for the little less than $300 the average Floridian will save per year. Perhaps we could all learn to be a little more responsible when it comes to our vote.

Posted by  David Schaffer, Tampa on 01/29  at  07:07 PM

I could not agree more with your initial premise.  The variance in tax bills for similar houses or similarly valued homes is unfair at the core.  To even things up, make it one vote per tax dollar, not one vote per individual.  But that would not be very popular or democratic. I voted for the amendment because I feel that our elected officials need to be more accountable to the electorate.  They had no problem inflating the budgets while tax revenues were soaring.  As a result, government administrative budgets for all of the public works, police, fire, etc likely have easy cuts to make while retaining the existing high quality of services that we have all come to enjoy.