Property Tax Amendment
Could be Challenged in
Court
With 64 percent of
Floridians voting in favor of Amendment 1 to alter the
state Constitution and limit property tax collections,
local governments are estimated to lose about $9.3
billion over five years, with nearly $1.6 billion coming
from K-12 school districts. For CSCs, just doubling the
homestead exemption is estimated to cost $25 million in
the first year, translating to an average savings for
the taxpayer of just over $11.
A group of
Florida newcomers has filed a lawsuit in
Leon County Circuit Court claiming the law limiting
property taxes for long-time homeowners discriminates
against more recent arrivals. The lawsuit says the
existing Save Our Homes cap on the taxable value of a
home should be invalidated and replaced with a more
equitable system that doesn't discriminate against
newcomers. Plaintiffs have asked the judge to stop the
implementation of Amendment 1 because it worsens the
inequities. Local government attorneys have said the
lawsuit has potential for success.
Taxation
and Budget Reform Commission Talks
Taxes
The Taxation and Budget
Reform Commission met today to consider other tax relief
ideas, including a proposal that would replace school
property taxes with a broader sales tax on services and
some goods now exempted. The commission is still very
focused on additional property tax reductions as voiced
by several members of the commission. Chairman Allan
Bense has stated one of his priorities is to sunset all
taxing districts. No proposal on the sunset issue has
been submitted yet. So far, the Commission has 41
proposals on the list. It has
until May 4 to put its tax cut proposals on the November
ballot. The complete
list of proposals is available online.
The
Children's Trust Invests in Improving Child Care Quality
in Miami-Dade
Together
with the Early Learning Coalition of Miami-Dade Monroe
and Early
Childhood Initiative Foundation/Ready Schools
Miami, The
Children's Trust launched an initiative called
Quality Counts, a voluntary rating system that will
evaluate child care centers and early learning programs,
and award them up to five stars based on a set of
high-quality standards and criteria. Participating
centers and programs will receive financial incentives
to help them purchase materials and equipment;
educational scholarships and wage supplements for staff;
and technical assistance. Those who achieve a five-star
rating will also receive financial rewards. The
Children's Trust will invest $22 million dollars to
implement Quality Counts over the next three years. Learn
More
Children's
Cabinet Discusses Priorities
Members of the Florida
Children and Youth Cabinet met last week at the
University of Central Florida in Orlando to discuss
potential priorities for the Cabinet. Among the ideas
were: improving information sharing among agencies,
requiring better VPK data, focusing on child health
issues, improving KidCare, increasing School Readiness
funding, creating an estimating conference for
children's services, and many others. Cabinet members
also requested that a thorough list of currently filed
and previously filed bills be made available for
discussion at the next meeting. The next Children's
Cabinet meeting is scheduled for Feb. 15 in Miramar.
Minutes of the Jan. 22 meeting are available online at:
www.flgov.com/youth_cabinet.
Florida
Afterschool Network
Releases Quality Standards
After months of
traveling the state and five regional meetings with
stakeholder groups, the Florida Afterschool Network
(FAN) has put together a set of voluntary standards
titled, "Florida Standards for Quality Afterschool
Programs." FAN, administered by FCSC, developed the
standards to help define the principles and practices
that lead to the delivery of quality programming for
children of elementary school grade levels. The
standards are available now on the FAN web site at
www.myfan.org, and will be available
in printed format soon. For more information, contact
FAN Project Director Larry Pintacuda at (850)
222-1340.
Governor Proposes Increase for
Education Amidst State Budget Crunch
Following a
$1-billion-budget-cutting exercise last year, the
legislature now faces cutting an additional $3 billion
in 2007-08 and 2008-09. These major budget cuts
seriously threaten the fate of many state-funded
programs, including human services. Despite the
grim outlook, Gov. Crist has proposed a $33.5 billion
budget for education in 2008, an
increase of nearly $400 dollars per student. Under his
proposal, which faces legislative approval, per-student
spending would go up to about $7,600, a 5.5 percent
increase over last year's budget. The proposal also
would increase K-12 spending by $1 billion.
Additionally, Crist's proposal earmarks $467 million for
teacher bonuses. Full details of the
education budget are available now at: www.flgov.com/budget/08-09govedubudgetrecs.pdf.
Complete
details of the Governor's recommended state
budget will be released on Monday, Feb. 4, 2008. Visit
www.myflorida.com and click on
"The People's Budget."
Early Learning Information System Benefits
Florida's Children and Families
The Agency for Workforce
Innovation (AWI) has been working to replace its
16-year-old data system with a new comprehensive,
dynamic and web-based tool known as the Early Learning
Information System (ELIS). ELIS will enable outreach,
recruitment, information sharing, resources, referral
and on-line applications so that families may learn
about and access Florida's early learning programs.
Learn more.
AWI Hosts
Education, Business and Workforce Leaders at Orlando
Summit
The Agency
for Workforce Innovation (AWI) hosted the 2008
Governor's Summit on Education, Workforce and Economic
Development January 23-25 in Orlando. According to AWI,
recordings of the presentations will be available on
their web site within the next two weeks at:
www.floridajobs.org/events/Gov_summit.html
