Word: taxed
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...Tuesday the legislature started a special session to reform Florida's dysfunctional property tax system, aiming to save residents the tens of billions of dollars that Californians reaped a generation ago. It's been almost 30 years since California approved Proposition 13, one of the most dramatic property tax reduction measures in U.S. history and a revolt that emboldened homeowners across the country. Now, with the middle class again feeling squeezed out of the American Dream, Florida's effort to smite spiraling property levies could influence a new generation of revenue rebels. "The hope is that Florida will come...
Florida's problem is similar to what California faced in the 1970s: a deluge of new residents and feckless growth management have driven real estate values, and therefore property taxes, beyond the reach of more and more households. In expensive markets like South Florida, for example, homeowners who have yet to qualify for a state property-tax cap say they've seen better than 100% increases over the past few years. It's a large reason why, according to a new Zogby International poll, half of South Floridians and 37% of all Floridians say they're considering moving...
Some observers suggest Floridians shouldn't gripe too much, since they don't pay a state income tax. But they do pay onerous hurricane insurance premiums (a shock being felt in other coastal states as well) that in many cases exceed what a state income tax would levy. What's more, the relatively low salaries and wages in Florida's tourism-driven economy "are hardly commensurate with those of the states we're being compared with today, like California and New York," says Cancela, who heads the Miami-based marketing firm Hispanic USA. That growing gap between incomes and housing...
Some of Florida's recent fixes have only exacerbated the frustration. In the 1990s the state adopted a "homestead" provision that eventually caps a homeowner's property tax increases at 3% a year. But when the house is sold, the cap no longer applies - creating absurd situations in which neighbors with similar homes pay wildly disparate property taxes. As a result, "there is now absolute consensus that local property taxes are out of control," says Republican state Senator Mike Haridopolos, co-chairman of the Joint Select Committee on Property Tax Reform and Relief...
...Many of the undesirable traits of illegal populations stem in large part from the simple fact that they are illegal. They use expensive emergency rooms because they lack insurance or are afraid a primary-care doctor might create a paper trail. They often don't file tax returns because of the same fear, and they turn to welfare or other social services because their illegal status consigns them to the lowest rung of the economy. We infantilize undocumented workers by relegating them to second-class status, and then we chastise them for being dependent on the nanny state...