Calling their vote today "historic," House Speaker Marco Rubio this morning warned members of the Taxation and Budget Reform commission that state revenues are plunging and that radical reforms are needed to pull the state out of an economic nosedive.
The 25-member panel has the extraordinary power to sidestep the Legislature and put proposals directly on the November ballot. Rubio urged them to take bold action by approving a measure that would slash property taxes by about 25 percent, wiping out about $8 billion in property taxes the Legislature mandates for districts to qualify for state money, known as the Required Local Effort.
Property taxes, Rubio argued, are not a reliable source of income for schools. Millage for school taxes will have to go up if the RLE remains in place and the housing market remains stalled, Rubio said.
The House won't go along with that, he said.
"That source of funding must and needs to be replaced in the state of Florida and I urge you to do it," Rubio said.
One proposal sponsored by former Gov. Jeb Bush aide Pat Levesque would require lawmakers to replace the required local effort with a combination of options, including closing sales tax loopholes, increasing the state sales tax by a penny, steep budget cuts or diverting state revenue growth when the economy rebounds.
Another proposal, pushed by Rubio-appointee and former Miami Republican lawmaker Carlos Lacasa, would give everyone the equivalent of a 25 percent property tax exemption in exchange for a half-cent increase in the sales tax that would be directed to schools.
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