Entries Tagged 'Carl in the News' ↓

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.

Today we have a very proud announcement to make: Carl Zimmermann has been recommended by the St. Petersburg Times

Here’s an excerpt:

Zimmermann has done his homework and eagerly offers ideas. On taxation, for example, he favors Save Our Homes portability and appraising newly purchased homes on a five-year average value rather than current value. Portability could create more problems than it solves and by creating more inequities instead of eliminating them. But examining appraisal rules has some merit.

On insurance, Zimmermann suggests removing sinkhole coverage from homeowners policies to make them more attractive for insurance companies to sell. On education, he supports the class size amendment and ending the FCAT or modifying it. He favors full use of the state housing trust fund to support construction of affordable housing.

We’re extremely happy to announce this recommendation, but in the end it comes down to one thing alone: that of the final District 48 vote tabulation on November 7th.

For those who may have missed it, Carl was featured in a story in the North Pinellas Times last Sunday.

Teacher has political ideas

Sunday, September 24th 2006
St. Petersburg Times
By TAMARA EL-KHOURY

CLEARWATER - In the classroom, Countryside High School journalism teacher Carl Zimmermann gets to ask the questions.

“Who hasn’t turned in their last news story yet?” he asked his third period TV Production II class one day last week. This was after reviewing a news story about the school cafeteria (prices up, french fry portions down). “When am I getting them?”

Outside the classroom, political candidate Carl Zimmermann has to answer the questions, and they are tough.

Like, “what’s your solution to the insurance crisis.”

Tackle that.

He does. Zimmermann, 55, is a Democrat running for state House District 48. He claims to have solid solutions to the area’s major problems and boasts of having cross-party support.

His slogan is, "Had enough?".

Click here for the full article.

Be sure to keep an eye out for more press coverage of Carl in the coming days.

Last Tuesday night, candidates of all parties gathered in Coachman Park for the Clearwater Chamber of Commerce’s "Politics in the Park" get together. During the event, a straw poll was taken on several different state wide and local races. Unlike some of the straw polls announced recently, this was bipartisan.

The results didn’t get much press due to timing coinciding the Gubernatorial debates, and that’s a shame because there was little attention of the announcement Carl Zimmermann won the straw poll for district 48 by 50 votes.

The final results were Carl Zimmermann: 108; Brian Flaherty: 58; Peter Nehr: 51; Ken Peluso: 43; Robin Borland: 23. Note that Carl nearly defeated the top two Republicans combined.

This should make it obvious that Carl isn’t a candidate to dismiss. He is a man whose intelligence and integrity people can see. Voters have had enough of politicians and their empty phrases. We all want someone who knows what is wrong, and how to approach the problems.

The St. Petersburg Times Political Buzz Blog offers more commentary on the “Politics in the Park” event.

This is only one poll and one small victory, but it should be a point for Carl’s supporters to rally around. It’s a reason to believe that voters will support what Carl has to offer regardless of party affiliation. It’s a reason for everyone reading this to do what you can to aid his campaign - volunteer, contribute, write a letter to the editor, request a yard sign, canvass with Carl, post a button on your web site and help spread the word. It’s very important for everyone to get involved.

Earlier today the Zimmermann 2006 campaign sent out the following press release:

PRESS RELEASE: Carl Zimmermann flunks Florida state leadership.

Monday, August 14th 2006 12:30 PM

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The Pinellas county school year may have just begun, but Carl Zimmermann is already passing out report cards as he canvasses through northern Pinellas and southern Pasco county neighborhoods. T he Democratic candidate for State House district 48 and Countryside High School teacher graded state leadership on several issues that are pressing to Florida voters and is sorry to report that the state has failed.

“I think it’s important to dispel the perception that the current leadership in Tallahassee has done a good job. When I discuss the real issues with people, they are hard-pressed to recall anything that has come from the Florida Legislature that has actually aided them. The legislative leaders fail to act and protect homeowners as insurance costs continue to skyrocket. Those same leaders have failed miserably with education, health care coverage and property tax relief. While they FAIL the taxpayers, they are more than willing to PASS increases on our phone and electric bills. Just what have they done well?”

Zimmermann, 54, is a six time Teacher of the Year at Countryside High School in Clearwater, Florida and resides in Palm Harbor. A former advertising executive, he is currently campaigning as the lone Democrat in Florida State House District 48, which includes parts of Tarpon Springs, Oldsmar, Palm Harbor, Dunedin and Holiday. For more information please visit www.zimmermann2006.com

Click Here to view the Report Card. (very large file)