RSS Feed of the blog

Contributors:

Reporter William March has covered state and national politics since 1994. Email

Reporter Christian M. Wade has covered the City of Tampa since 2008. Email

Reporter Mike Salinero has covered Hillsborough County government for The Tampa Tribune since 2007. Email

Reporter Lindsay Peterson has been a general assignment reporter at the Tampa Tribune since 2005, focusing on higher education since 2009. Email

Tribune Politics Coverage

Florida Political Blogs:

• State Of Sunshine
• Pushing Rope
• Interstate4Jamming
• News Service of Florida
• FLA Politics
• Sayfie Review/

More Resources:

• TBO.com Home Page
• TBO.com Politics
• TBO.com News Updates
• Live Traffic Updates
• TBO.com Communities

Most Recent Entries

• 1 Killed This Week in Afghanistan
• Nelson: Obama birth control compromise “seems to solve the problem”
• Sharpe suspending campaign
• Sharpe to make announcement, may be out of House race
• Largo Military Museum Gets New Name, Mission
• Planned Parenthood: Polls show Catholics, voters favor contraception coverage
• Weatherford denies any attempt to undermine West
• Michelle Obama to tour Florida for healthy eating
• Pentagon Co-Spokesman Changed Trim After Boss’ Haircuts
• Brig. Gen. Becomes Highest-Ranking Death in Afghanistan
• Special Operations Command To Go Para-Commando Over University of Tampa
• Air Force To Cut Nearly 300 Planes, But None From MacDill
• POTUS Veterans Job Act: Billions To Hire Vets As Law Enforcement, First Reponders, Park Workers
• Will Israel Really Strike Iran? SECDEF Won’t Comment On Ignatius Assertion
• College Scholarship Available To a Lucky Family At MacDIll

More

• Breaking News
• Command Post Tampa
• Fact Finders - Databay Blog
• Guestbook: Remembering The Fallen Soldiers
• Fresh Squeezed Politics
• Political Safari

Monthly Archives

• Breaking News
• Command Post Tampa
• Fact Finders - Databay Blog
• Guestbook: Remembering The Fallen Soldiers
• Fresh Squeezed Politics
• Political Safari

Senator Wants Panel to Reconsider Tax Proposal

Posted Mar 19, 2008 by Catherine Dolinski, Tribune Tallahassee Bureau

Updated Mar 19, 2008 at 04:21 PM

Sen Mike Haridopolos isn’t happy with the property tax reduction amendment the state Taxation and Budget Reform Commission voted Monday to put on the state’s November ballot.

Haridopolos thinks the state Legislature wouldn’t be able to make up the school funding the amendment would eliminate—some $11 billion a year by 2011. Even though he’s a non-voting member of the commission, he says he’s going to try to convince them to revise the proposal.

That plan would eliminate the schools portion of property taxes, effectively slashing property tax bills by 25 percent. Lawmakers would have to make up the difference, using alternatives specified in the amendment.

The commission has yet to take its final vote on the proposal, but that’s been expected to be a formality.

The proposal was changed in last-minute compromises on the commission, and Haridopolos said members may not realize the amendment could trigger a sales tax hike of up to a 2.5 cents. He also says the full commission didn’t hear an analysis warning the proposal would cost jobs.

Haridopolos said he hopes the commission will “at least take a second look. They can still amend.”