FUBAR Over Property Tax Amendment

The Florida Supreme Court will decide if the original property tax amendment is constitutional. Judge Charles Francis ruled that the ballot language was too misleading. The first hearing on the matter will be December 3.

It would be better for the Florida Legislature to scrap the original amendment and complete the new one. Mrco Rubio screwed that up with a property tax cut that would have a difficult time passing the Senate. He knew this, but went ahead with doing little study about the economic impact of the new House-passed amendment. The House and the Senate has until next Tuesday at 11:59 p.m. Otherwise, the new amendment won't go on the ballot.

There is the question of what happens the the original amendment if the Florida Supreme Court finds it constitutional.

If the court were to reinstate the amendment to the ballot _ yet do it after the state deadline _ what will the Secretary of State's office do?

"That's not a question we have contemplated,'' said Department of State spokesman Sterling Ivey.

The ball is with the Florida Supreme Court. They can say the original amendment is the one that goes on the ballot. It then becomes a question of what what happens to the new-and-improved amendment. At the pace the legislature and court is going neither may make the ballot.

This is a reflection of Marco Rubio's leadership. He rushed a first amendment through the House. He proceeded to repeat the same mistakes with the second amendment with new qustions about whether it will pass constitutional muster. He screwed Charlie Crist and Ken Pruitt with their deal.

The House plan gives businesses, second-home owners and landlords a 5 percent yearly assessment cap similar to the one that owners of primary homes get with the Save Our Homes Amendment. That goes beyond an agreement Rubio had with Pruitt and Gov. Charlie Crist to limit the plan to increasing homestead exemptions, providing portability and giving a small tax break to businesses.

Pruitt will mostly likely take the 5 percent cap. Rubio created this delay strickly for his own political career. He can tell people he shashed taxes. He won't mention that he kept the legislature in gridlock.