So they are at it again in Tallahassee! The House has passed a motion on property tax by a large margin and the Senate votes on it on Thursday. Currently there are indications that it will not pass. And even if it does, once again, confusion reigns supreme!

I would love to tell you what it all means, but I can't. I can paste a part of the summary in for you:

The Bottom Line

The SJR amendment eliminates the "lock-in effect" of Save Our Homes by allowing statewide portability for a period of two years after leaving the former homestead. It accelerates Save Our Homes savings by providing a Guaranteed Save Our Homes Benefit worth 40% of the county's median homestead just value. Low-income seniors receive an accelerated SOH protection worth 100% of the median homestead just value.

The amendment to the Joint Resolution creates a new 5% assessment cap for all nonhomestead properties (i.e. business properties, apartments, and second homes). It also creates a Tangible Personal Property Tax Exemption of $25,000 to lower administrative and tax costs for businesses. It limits property tax assessments for affordable housing and working waterfront properties. Furthermore, it requires that all property appraisers be elected rather than appointed. HB 7003D provides implementing language for the constitutional amendment.

The total fiscal impact of the constitutional amendment is $11 billion over four years, of which $964 million will come from school tax levies.

So...now do you understand? Me neither, but of course there are bits of it that do indeed make sense. Once if the Senate passes this on Thursday then the people of Florida will have to vote on it. I think that once again this will be the abolition of Save Our Homes by the back door, but I'm not entirely sure. I am sure that most people will require a calculator to figure out if they are better to keep SOH or take the new 40% of the median price in any given County. Oh and who's numbers are we working on for the median price?

I have invited both a State Senator and a State Representative onto my radio show next Sunday at 12 noon Eastern - in Central Florida on 540 WFLA and on line all over the nation at www.540wfla.com

Watch this space.