Mayor Files Suit to Prevent January Tax Vote

If one Broward County mayor has his way, the referendum scheduled for next January, in which Floridians will decide whether to create a new "super exemption" from homestead property taxes, will never see the light of day. The Miami Herald reports that Westin Mayor Eric Hersh has filed a suit with the State Supreme Court arguing that the proposed super exemption referendum is unconstitutional. The Herald describes three prongs in Hersh's legal argument:

• Misleads voters by failing to tell them that a vote for the amendment is a vote to phase out and ultimately replace Save Our Homes, which now caps taxable assessment increases on primary homes at 3 percent a year.
• Violates the constitutional requirement that a proposal with more than one change to the constitution be voted on only during a general election, not a special election.
• Interferes with the constitutional powers of local governments to increase property taxes because the Legislature allows local governments to make budget cuts in 2007 before the amendment would take effect.

The first two points, at least, are pretty common arguments. Many states have a "single subject" requirement for constitutional amendments, and courts routinely shoot down proposed ballot initiatives because the language is misleading or incomplete.

Whether any of these charges hold water will be up to the courts. But these are all legitimate questions to ask. And the larger question lurking behind it all is: is a vote of the people the best way to decide what's good property tax reform?