U.S. military personnel serving outside the United States would be eligible for an additional property tax break under a proposed constitutional amendment facing voters Nov. 2.
Amendment 2 would provide an additional property tax exemption based on the number of days a member of the armed services spends outside the country during the tax year.
Lawmakers voted in 2009 to put the question on the ballot.
The bill would save military homeowners an estimated $13 million a year in local property taxes, according to the revenue estimating conference summary of the proposed amendment. Approximately 25,000 Florida military personnel were deployed outside the United States in 2008.
When you have men and women serving their country bravely, the last thing you want to do is have them lose their homes, said Rep. Mike Horner, R-Kissimmee, who sponsored the amendment in the House.
The proposal would provide tax relief on a pro-rata basis. A person who spends half the year abroad would get half the tax break they would if they spent the full year overseas. If voters approve it, lawmakers would have to create the tax break by passing a law.
Theres been little organized opposition to the proposal, although the League of Women Voters of Florida has asked its members to vote No.
The League believes no tax sources or revenues should be specified, limited, exempted, or prohibited in the Constitution, the League says in its voters guide.
And at least two newspaper editorial boards have called on voters to reject the measure, which they say is too narrowly defined and doesnt take into account military personnel who rent, or the services of military members who serve within the United States.
This is a well-intended effort by the Legislature to provide an additional homestead property tax exemption for members of the military and the Florida National Guard who are deployed overseas, the St. Petersburg Times editorial said. But it is unfair in its application and creates another loophole in a property tax system already full of special breaks.
