Business owners and part-time residents would have their annual property assessments capped at 5 percent under a constitutional amendment unanimously approved this morning by the Florida House. If the Senate agrees, the measure would be placed on the 2010 ballot.

The measure (HJR 7057) would reduce the current assessment cap of 10-percent for non-homestead properties. Assessments for homesteads, which are primary dwellings for full-time Florida residents, are capped at 3 percent annually.

Debate on the bill led to an interesting moment on the floor, which showed how self-conscious lawmakers are about property tax votes.

Bill sponsor Carl Domino, R-Jupiter, offered an amendment to include a property tax break for first-time homebuyers, but Rep. Jim Waldman, D-Coconut Creek, objected and said it was out-of-order. House Rules Chairman Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton, agreed with Waldman.

So Domino tried an end-run, asking for a vote to waive the rules. The motion requires a unanimous vote. And when the board opened up, there were plenty of red lights signaling ‘no votes’ from Democrats. But one-by-one, those red lights turned green until there was only one left: Waldman’s.

The unamended bill passed moments later 115-0.

Tags: Carl Domino, Jim Waldman, property taxes

This entry was posted on Monday, April 27th, 2009 at 10:57 am and is filed under 2010 campaigns, legislature. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.