David McKalip, M.D.

Property Taxes and government spending are out of control in Florida and most politicians are ignoring the problem. Florida taxpayers are fed up and we are taking matters into our own hands - launching our own version of "Proposition 13" that capped California’s property taxes in 1978: the 1.35% property tax cap.

Our Florida economy is in a tail spin, and big government and high taxes are to blame. As the housing market spirals downward, the drag on the economy is revealed as decreased sales tax revenues in Tallahassee: $1.4 billion so far and another $1.5 billion projected over the next year. Record property tax collections and out of control government spending are at the heart of this growing Floridian economic crisis.

Here are the facts professional politicians continue to ignore as they watch our Florida economy implode. Property tax collections throughout the state have doubled this decade. Local government spending has doubled. Money is being wasted on corporate welfare, failed social welfare, government mismanagement and, most of all, excess health and retirement benefits for government workers. Most government workers are set for life with nearly free health insurance for them and their families and high guaranteed incomes after retirement. These benefits are all on the back of us, the taxpayer, as we finance these unfunded liabilities with ever increasing taxes.

As we beg for tax relief, politicians use our own tax money to hire lobbyists through the Florida League of Cities and the Florida Association of Counties to wage (and win) a war on tax relief in Tallahassee. For every tax-funded ribbon cutting ceremony a Mayor and Councilmember attends, a Floridian moves out of state. For every sports stadium or so called "economic development plan" the taxpayers shoulder, a small businessman must downsize their business. For every vagrant the politicians care for with another multi-million dollar "homeless" program, a young family must lose money on rent as they wait to buy a house. For every doctor’s appointment a 60 year old grandmother misses for lack of health insurance, a retired city council member gets taxpayer funded health insurance years after leaving office.

Enough is enough – politicians continue to fail, so we, the Florida taxpayer, will solve the problem. We are gathering signatures on a constitutional amendment petition for a 1.35% cap on property taxes across the state. Under this plan no property owner would pay more than $1,350 in property taxes for each $100,000 of taxable value (not sales value) of their home - even if the local governments try to collect more. Both homesteaders and non-homesteaders would benefit and the Save Our Homes protection would be preserved. A typical tax cut will be greater than $1,000. Local government budgets would be cut back 25-40% across the state - $8 billion in the first year. School budgets could be preserved by Tallahassee who could ensure schools get a higher percentage of all collected taxes. The petitions are online at www.CutPropertyTaxesNow.com and we need 611,009 verified signatures of registered Florida voters to get on the ballot. If we can collect them by 12/31/2007, we can make the November 2008 ballot. If we can’t do that, we will use those signatures to pressure the recently convened Florida Tax and Budget Reform Commission to use their constitutional power to do so.

Ours is the first step to take back control of government from the fat cat politicians and the wealthy special interests that control them. Grassroots groups all over the state are joining in and even the increasingly rare responsible elected leaders are joining us. House Speaker Marco Rubio – a tireless worker for tax relief – is campaigning around the state now for this plan, side by side with our grass root coalition. We really want taxes to "drop like a rock", and we are going to do it through Florida’s own Proposition 13: the 1.35% property tax cap.