I had hoped to have this letter to the editor I wrote published by the St. Pete Times over the last few days.

The impasse this week in Tallahassee between the House plan and the Senate plan requires a brand new plan. The House plan proposes radical change in how we are taxed by doing a partial swap with sales tax and the Senate plan takes a more conservative approach keeping property tax in place, but changing the rules for escalation. While both offer savings, neither really focuses on the real problem. Therefore, neither effectively offers a long term solution. Both are likely to blow up in our faces in the near future and may compound the inequity in our current system.

The Senate plan will ultimately cost the homesteaded owner more money by raising the 3% cap to 10% per year if they move. The House plan is just plain reckless by depending on voters to throw out our current safeguards like Save-Our-Homes cap and then hoping they approve two sales tax increases. There’s also a very likely possibility that their figures are inaccurate (people on a committee put together by former governor Jeb Bush estimated it would take 4 – 5% sales tax to offset the difference) and we could be faced with increasing the sales tax again down the road.

Nobody likes paying taxes, but we all know we need to support services like police, fire, emergency response, education, parks, and the other communal services government provides that we all benefit from. The problem is that with the rapid escalation in property values the last three years, those that weren’t protected by the Save-Our homes 3% cap in assessment have seen their taxes double and triple. And now that values are dropping in the market, they won’t drop in the property record books.

Businesses, investors, second-home owners and ultimately renters of all those properties are facing financial ruin. So, why isn’t the focus on relieving them? Sure, both plans give them some relief, but both plans focus on giving more benefits to those already protected by the cap.

Here’s a better plan:

1) Roll back all appraisals to 2003 levels and then increase all of them by 3% per year (a minimal amount to cover inflation). Then extend the 3% appraisal cap to all properties. Taxes are like a three legged stool. Appraised value, millage and budget make up the legs and to keep them balanced the legs have to be adjusted. If the 3% cap was extended to all property, local budgets would have to be adjusted and once they were established at what our local officials feel is essential, millage would be set to balance everything out. This would accomplish what we all want which is for our local governments to explain why they need more money instead of simply getting a windfall during prosperous times. Our local municipalities need not suffer tremendous cutbacks under this plan, they simply need to show us accountability.

2) This plan would not require portability of the Save-Our homes cap because we would all be getting the cap. It would, however, over time, balance out the inequities between similar homes as more homes are sold.

3) Let’s abolish the unbelievably unfair practice of taxing property at the highest possible use instead of the current use.

Three simple changes and a permanent, long term solution. No need to gamble with our property, our security or our emotions. If our representatives were to pass a bill like this, they could have time this week to re-address the problems with property insurance.