About Me: Aaron Deslatte is a reporter for Gannett's Florida Capital Bureau. He has covered government and state politics for eight years in Missouri, Arkansas and Florida.
After the Property Tax Storm
Now that the Legislature's warp-speed property tax session is over, state lawyers, regulators and interest groups are bound to spend weeks sorting out exactly where the warts may materialize.
Already, one opinion from the Fort Lauderdale law firm Weiss, Serota, Helfman, Pastoriza, Cole & Boniske suggests lawmakers may have goofed with their statutory freeze, cut and cap imposed on cities, counties and special districts.
The bill, HB 1B, doesn't have to go to voters to take effect this fall and allows Gov. Charlie Crist and lawmakers to say they fulfilled their promise to drop taxes this year.
Homeowners would get a state average of $174 from the bill.
The problem: It would seem to force many local governments to lower their millage rates despite the provision of the Florida Constitution, Article VII, section 9, that says local governments "shall ... be authorized by law" to impose property tax rates of up to 10 mills.
The law firm that wrote it boasts a big public-sector client list including the cities of Miami, Orlando, Hollywood, Boca Raton and the Collier County School Board. It also happens to be hosting a June 26 "emergency briefing" at the Hilton Fort Lauderdale Airport to discuss the Legislature's handiwork along with "what remedies are available to municipalities and counties throughout Florida."
Its 5-page opinion is based on a 1994 state Supreme Court ruling that stated the freedom to impose tax rates of up to 10 mills was a core component of home rule.
The separate constitutional amendment the Legislature slated for a Jan. 29, 2008, election, seems to address this question by spelling out that state lawmakers can limit property taxes by general law.
But even if it passes, it wouldn't be on the books until long after the statutory cap takes effect.
"They're going ahead and doing it even before they have the constitutional authority to do it," says Jamie Alan Cole, an attorney with the firm.
Several lawmakers have seen the opinion, although none wanted to discuss it. All House Speaker Marco Rubio's office would offer was a blanket statement that "Speaker Rubio believes the actions were legal and constitutional."
Read it here: LegalAnalysisPropertyTaxReform.pdf
Already, one opinion from the Fort Lauderdale law firm Weiss, Serota, Helfman, Pastoriza, Cole & Boniske suggests lawmakers may have goofed with their statutory freeze, cut and cap imposed on cities, counties and special districts.
The bill, HB 1B, doesn't have to go to voters to take effect this fall and allows Gov. Charlie Crist and lawmakers to say they fulfilled their promise to drop taxes this year.
Homeowners would get a state average of $174 from the bill.
The problem: It would seem to force many local governments to lower their millage rates despite the provision of the Florida Constitution, Article VII, section 9, that says local governments "shall ... be authorized by law" to impose property tax rates of up to 10 mills.
The law firm that wrote it boasts a big public-sector client list including the cities of Miami, Orlando, Hollywood, Boca Raton and the Collier County School Board. It also happens to be hosting a June 26 "emergency briefing" at the Hilton Fort Lauderdale Airport to discuss the Legislature's handiwork along with "what remedies are available to municipalities and counties throughout Florida."
Its 5-page opinion is based on a 1994 state Supreme Court ruling that stated the freedom to impose tax rates of up to 10 mills was a core component of home rule.
The separate constitutional amendment the Legislature slated for a Jan. 29, 2008, election, seems to address this question by spelling out that state lawmakers can limit property taxes by general law.
But even if it passes, it wouldn't be on the books until long after the statutory cap takes effect.
"They're going ahead and doing it even before they have the constitutional authority to do it," says Jamie Alan Cole, an attorney with the firm.
Several lawmakers have seen the opinion, although none wanted to discuss it. All House Speaker Marco Rubio's office would offer was a blanket statement that "Speaker Rubio believes the actions were legal and constitutional."
Read it here: LegalAnalysisPropertyTaxReform.pdf
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