Word: taxed
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...graduate of the Kennedy School of Government, said that among the “many factors that played a part in my decision,” the most important was her desire to remain in the State House, where she serves on the three committees, including the powerful, tax-levying Ways and Means Commitee...
...moment when 70% of the public thinks the country is moving in the wrong direction. The problem is, politicians hate having to talk about anything remotely adventurous in the midst of an campaign. They prefer safe recitations of conventional wisdom: We need to do something about government waste... the tax code... the health-care system. If you actually make a bold promise-health care for all, for example-you will be asked for specifics. If you give specifics, as Bill Bradley did when he proposed universal care in 1999, your opponents and the press will tear your proposal to shreds...
When Sergio Martinez, 41, bought his 5-bedroom Miami house three years ago for $405,000, the taxes were only $2,800. But before he became eligible for the homestead cap last year, they'd jumped to $7,400. His house is now valued at more than $900,00 - and if he were to sell it, the new owner would be staring at an annual tax bill of almost $20,000. "That's a big reason I'd have trouble finding a buyer for this house, and why I'd have trouble buying a new one here myself," says Martinez...
...since the legislature ended its regular session last month, with angry voters lighting up their switchboards. The House called for radical cuts of as much as $85 billion over the next five years, the Senate only $15 billion. Crist - whose conservative predecessor, Jeb Bush, was strangely tepid about property tax reform - has pledged to "make living in Florida more affordable" and has called for a $34 billion reduction as well as dramatic increases in the $25,000 exemption from taxable home value that homeowners currently receive...
Meanwhile, local government revenues - which ballooned lavishly over the past five years as the real estate boom pushed local tax collections up 82% - would be rolled back to 2006 levels, with additional cuts of up to 9% depending on each government's past spending habits. That prospect has predictably raised the hackles of mayors and county managers. But state legislators - including a large contingent of Democrats - appear unsympathetic. "This is not so much a cut," says Republican state Senate Majority Leader Daniel Webster, "as it is bringing local governments back to reality." But critics remind the legislators of another reality...