Friday, July 25, 2008

Local Responses to Property Tax Cuts

How are local governments responding to the state-mandated increase in Florida's property tax homestead exemption? The Miami Herald reports that in Dade County, about a quarter of the tax cut is being made up with higher property tax rates:
Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Alvarez juggled the four county taxes that make up the total rate to reclaim $50 million from a $200 million shortfall that resulted from the double Homestead exemption passed by voters in January.
Dade County's actions aren't obviously right or wrong. What this points out, though, is just how difficult it can be to forecast the actual impact when state governments try to force local governments to cut taxes.

Which begs a broader good-government question: if Florida state lawmakers are so hell-bent on cutting taxes, why not just cut their own and leave local governments alone?

1 comment:

Daniel Nelson said...

The sales tax is great because it does not punish people for the acquisition, punished for human consumption, not savings. The whole is regressive to the poor "does not wash when I see poor people driving tricked out of the car and hauling 50 inch plasma TV in their homes grip premium channels.

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