We’d like to announce the addition of a profile page for Carl on the Facebook social network. It’s another means of keeping informed and in touch about the campaign and a means of showing your support.

The following was originally published in January’s Palm Harbor Panther newspaper, discussing Amendment 1 that will appear on ballots during the January 29th election

On January 29th, Floridians will vote on the latest tax plan our current legislators decided may fix the tax crisis. Is it good for you? Is it good for Florida?

Does it fix the problem?

Before you do that, you have to identify whether you are experiencing a tax crisis and who is.

1. Have you owned your home for more than 4 years?
2. Do you have the Save Our Homes cap? If this fits you, you are not having a tax crisis. You and I have our assessment values capped at 3%. While we may have seen our taxes go up, we have been fortunate to have been spared the enormous increases our neighbors have experienced.

If you have purchased your home recently or you have a non-homestead property, such as an investment property, business property or second home, you are probably in crisis. Your assessment may be triple the value of the homestead property - and so are your taxes!

The second problem is you sell and you move to a new house, you lose the Save Our Homes cap and will pay the sky-high tax based on higher appraised value. The result has been the catastrophic halt in real estate sales. And when the real estate sales (the engine driving the economy) stop, the rest of the economy begins to falter.

So, does the new amendment fix the problem?

The amendment proposal does allow portability — letting the home owner that has a Save Our Homes cap transfer it to a new home. That will help free up part of the real estate market. It doesn’t do much to motivate non-homesteaded buyers, investors, second home owners, or rental property owners, many who have had to refinance their properties to stay afloat.

It adds a cap to non-homesteaded property assessment, but only at 10%. While that is better than the “sky’s the limit” approach, it keeps those properties at the current crisis-level rates. There is no roll back in appraisal rates to 2005 or 2004. At 10% those properties will see their taxes double every 10 years.

Business would also get a break on ad valorem tax, which means that they wouldn’t have to pay tax on personal property the business owns up to a value of $25,000. However, businesses are having a tough time right now, sales are down and real help is needed. The legislature desperately needs to help businesses because the state’s income is the sales tax revenue that those businesses collect. When small businesses fail, the state fails. This was why a special session was held in October to cut $2 Billion from the state budget. More cuts are coming in this new year.

And finally, the amendment would double the $25,000 homestead exemption. This is a bonus for those of us not in crisis, but, truly at the expense of not relieving those that are. The break does also not apply to school taxes, about 40% of bill, so the effect is closer to $15,000 off the appraised value.

This amendment will save most people money. But, it falls far too short on solving the problems that made this issue a crisis for a significant number of Floridians. And, it creates real problems for schools and municipalities, the entities that are dependent on property tax. If we don’t solve the crisis, it only gets worse for all of us.

For Florida, a better solution is needed. Properties in crisis need significant help.

Remember too, this is an amendment to our constitution. It is not just a temporary fix. If it passes, only another amendment can fix it. It was passed by the Legislature because it polled well and it was simple enough for people to understand. That’s no way to make important decisions. They should do better. Solving problems is what we need.

Happy New Year! This new year should be one of the happiest we have had in seven years.

But before you ring in the new year, maybe you can help me reach a very important fundraising goal? The last fundraising quarter of 2007 ends tonight at Midnight. I am $145 away from reaching our goal set for this quarter, $415 away from reaching an important mark for the campaign, and just over $800 away from reaching the same mark for money on hand.

Can you help?

Simply visit the contribution page and make a very secure credit card donation.

Thank you all so much. Happy New Year… And while we’re on that subject, my resolution for 2008 is to go to Tallahassee as your new Democratic State Representative in Pinellas!

The New Year will soon be rung in and from Carl Zimmermann’s entire campaign staff, we hope you all have the most joyous of holiday seasons.

Of course, with the new year comes the true start of the campaign season for local and federal offices. We’d like to pass on an announcement by local candidate Jack Killingsworth:

IOWA CAUCUS PARTY!
– FOR DEMOCRATS –

JOIN US THURSDAY NIGHT
FOR A PINELLAS ELECTION PARTY & FUND RAISER

January 3rd at 8:30 pm (± till it’s over)

COME WATCH THE IOWA CAUCUS AT THE BEACH THEATRE
315 Corey Ave . St. Pete Beach . 727-360-6697

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$10 Admission
A suggested donation of $10 in a sealed envelope will go to your favorite candidate

Join Your Fellow Democrats & Progressives, VOTE for your favorite Democratic Candidate
while we watch CNN Coverage of the Iowa Caucuses on the Big Screen in Hi Def and Dolby Sound!

Meet Campaign Volunteers & Local Candidates
Come see how HIGH your candidate BOUNCES out of Iowa!

It promises to be an evening of Great Fun, with Live Music, Comedy and Democratic Camaraderie! Candidate t-shirts, pins and signs welcome.

Cheering sections encouraged! One person/one vote (hands will be stamped!) —
Our winners will be announced at the end of the evening.

Enjoy Live Entertainment, Concession Drinks & Snacks
Beer & Wine, Cold & Hot drinks, Hot Dogs, Pop Corn, Candy, etc. on sale.

(Real dinner is available at nearby Corey Ave. restaurants like Mangia, and Madelina Cottage, or the Blue Parrot)

For more information contact:
Bill Bucolo 727-347-1829

Co-sponsored by the Pinellas Democratic Executive Committee and the Beach Theatre

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