Boston Tea Parties in Florida over property taxes and insurance crises

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Floridians are FED UP.


Five signs of trouble bubble up at local level

By HOWARD TROXLER, Times Columnist
Published September 24, 2006

When angry citizens show up spontaneously at city halls and county courthouses across Florida to demand lower taxes from stunned local elected officials, it's more than a one-time, freak coincidence.
Nope. The series of mini "Boston tea parties" we have seen over recent days in Citrus, Hillsborough, Pinellas and Hernando counties, and in cities from Dunedin to North Redington Beach to Tampa, represent something deeper.

The simple reading is that Floridians are just plain fed up.

But a deeper take is that several pressures on Floridians are building toward a breaking point at the same time. I would argue that there are at least five of these:



(1) First and most obviously, taxpayers have finally gotten wise to the way local taxes work. Enough taxpayers now understand that Florida's soaring property values mean higher property taxes, no matter what their local officials claim.
Local politicians can keep their tax rate the same, or even trim that rate a little, and still rake in more money while pretending they "held the line" on taxes. But more voters understand this than ever before. With a new degree of sophistication, they are demanding tax rates be rolled back.

(2) The heavy-handed division of Floridians into two classes of taxpayers - homeowners vs. nonhomeowners - is really starting to whack the nonhomeowners. They are coming to understand on a large scale just how much they are getting the short end of the stick.

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(3) Resentment over taxes just can't be divorced from resentment over Florida's insurance crisis, even if local officials don't think that's not their problem.

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(4) Florida's tax and insurance crises are cresting at precisely the same time as a rising voter revolt over local government power over growth. From St. Pete Beach to Ormond Beach and many points in between, Florida voters are fighting their own city halls to take more direct control. Too many big-box stores and condos have been approved over the protests of too many fed-up neighbors.
Looming over all of these local battles is the coming statewide debate over the "Hometown Democracy" movement, which seeks direct voter control of long-term growth. This might become one of the biggest political fights Florida has ever had.

(5) Last, and most ominously, there are signs that the overall economy is slumping, which threatens disaster for Florida government at both the state and local level.

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Additional important info:


Florida's Hometown Democracy Movement


This is a push by voters to take control over the decisions on land use in their local areas.

This amendment lets voters decide whether their city or county comprehensive land use plan will be changed or adopted. Currently, city and county commissions make those decisions.

As of June 22, 2006, the Florida Supreme Court unanimously approved this amendment, and it will appear on the November, 2008 ballot.