FLORIDA BALLOT INITIATIVE

FLORIDA BALLOT INITIATIVE
A Call to Action: A Replacement Alternative to Florida Property Taxes

We have two petitions that together would:
Replace the property tax system.
Control tax and fee increases by limiting them to population and inflation increases and can be overridden with voter approval.
Prevent the initiation of a new tax or fee unless it has voter approval.
Cut current taxes and fees and return excess money to the people or could be used to replace the property tax revenues.
Please visit our website at: www.FloridaBallotInitiative.com
SUMMARY OF INITIATIVES:To see the full text and print the petitions you will need Adobe Reader:

BALLOT TITLE: Replace all property taxes with other revenues thereby abolishing property taxes.
See the full text and print the petition: http://election.dos.state.fl.us/initiatives/fulltext/pdf/45505-11.pdf

BALLOT TITLE: No new taxes without voter approval. Limit all Governmental Entity revenues collected within Florida.
See the full text and print the petition: http://election.dos.state.fl.us/initiatives/fulltext/pdf/45505-8.pdf

ACTION STEPS: PLEASE SEND YOUR PETITIONS RIGHT NOW! Please do not delay. Contributions are appreciated!
Sign and mail the Petitions to Mailing Address: Florida Ballot Initiative, P.O. BOX 7256, Jupiter, Fl 33468
Tell everyone you can and then form a group to collect petitions; take them with you everywhere and we will be on 2008 Ballot.
Call the newspapers, radio stations and TV stations and demand media attention; talk to your local TV news station!
Send letters to the editor and TV stations and demand media attention! Here are some links: http://www.newslink.org/flnews.html
Contribute now; we are funded by grassroots efforts, only with contributions can we get these amendments on the 2008 Ballot!
Contributions should be made to Florida Ballot Initiative and mailed with the petitions and no other place or organization .
Richard Charles Antolinez
Chairman
Florida Ballot Initiative
www.FloridaBallotInitiative.com
Email: nativegator@msn.com
P.O. BOX 7256
JUPITER, FL 33468

Florida Builder Might Not Survive

FL REALTOR NEWS 11/26/07 (courtesy of Florida Realtors EarlyBird News)
Homebuilder TOUSA Inc. based in Hollywood, FL, who's family of builders includes the prominent Engle Homes, says it may not survive the housing slump. The company’s announcement comes less than a week after Fort Lauderdale-based Levitt and Sons builders filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection from its creditors.
“As if we needed another indication of the lousy shape the housing market is in,” said Mike Larson, a housing analyst with Weiss Research in Jupiter.Levitt and Sons sought relief from creditors, after defaulting on more than $300 million in loans, stopping construction of homes and laying off most of its 412 workers.
As large major players get snuffed out, the incomes of real estate and mortgage professionals continue to be squeezed. Take control of your income with an endeavour that doesn't swing with the markets.
Go to www.IncomeBeyondImagination.com and watch the 14 min video to see for yourself.

WE NEED TAX RELIEF

Just a small, meager voice, but here are my two bits.

The whole attempt to change the Florida tax has been a debacle. I would have voted against the previous proposal because it lied to our voters with a promise of immediate relief that would have evolved into paying even higher taxes in a very short time.

The only thing I really like about the current proposal is portability. I’m looking to downsize in a few years. Moving to a smaller house and paying substantially more taxes forces me to entertain the thoughts of moving to Tennessee. I have many clients in need of a larger house. One would think that buying a house with an extra bedroom would be a pretty simple thing without any major impact. But the prospect of moving into this marginally more expensive house and having to pay double the taxes for the many years one lives there has squashed those plans for too many. I have not seen the proposal. I can only hope that it is comprehensive and makes moving within Florida a non tax event.

The $25,000 homestead exemption was just “wrong”. No one should have a free ride. Everyone should contribute a minimum. To think that for the past years, entire communities did not pay real estate taxes because their assessed values were less than the homestead exemption strikes me as “buying votes”. The new proposal, while preserving the original $25,000 exemption, addresses this for the additional $25,000 exemption.

People who have bought houses in the past 3-4 years are getting slammed with outrageous taxes. I bought my house in 1995 and pay $5,000. My neighbor bought his similar house a few years ago and pays $10,000. That’s not right. It will be interesting to see how much the new owner’s tax bills decline as their house values decline. I have a hunch, it won’t be dollar for dollar.

Government has got to re-evaluate how much is required to provide its citizens with services and where it is spending our tax dollars. The State, County and City budgets have increased astronomically over a very few years and they have purchased dog parks, new office buildings, landscaped road medians and generally spent it all, and more. Those of us with the Save Our Homes 3% cap obviously weren’t paying attention because this didn’t affect us, or so we thought. But it does. As the new home buyer’s taxes increased to the level they are today, the revolt has begun and the real estate market has crashed in part because of the exorbitant tax bills. Government is overspending. It’s our fault. We have to fix it.

Bill Tison
William A Tison, Jr., Realtor
Serving the area since 1974

REMAX Southeast
561-737-0000 Office
561-734-9287 Fax
800-940-6100 Toll Free

From: Rosanna Pirri [mailto:rp1912@comcast.net] Sent: Tuesday, October 30, 2007 4:44 PMTo: Tony Petrolia; Anita Graw; anne.bernet; Barbara Peterson; Bathurst, Dana; Bob & Ginny Gill; BobSauerJr; C Balistreri; Carol Goodfellow; Emily Griffin; Eugenia; Heather Freher; 'Joan Pizzi'; Joyce Baker; Karla Ramsey ; Larry Brandt; Linda Latraverse ; Lynna Lerman; MaryPrince ; 'Ryan Mueller'; Steve Streicherler; steveFeldman; 'Sven Englund'; Tim Kinzler; Tina Allen; TMVBEIRNE@aol.com; 'Tony Aquaviva US MTG'; 'Wendy & Bill Tison'; 'allan spiro'; 'Allana Key'; 'B&N Duffner'; 'Betty diggans'; 'BHuba'; 'Bob Mueller'; 'catherine cronin'; 'Cathy Frish'; 'Chris Kavanaugh'; 'D holms'; 'D. Seretean'; 'Daniel Capone'; 'diana cowan'; 'diane K'; 'don stone'; 'Doris Sewak'; 'ellen goodman'; 'ellen storck'; 'Gina Massey'; 'H Hanzel'; 'hershonteam BB'; 'Inez Fleming'; 'J Fox'; 'Jeff Currier'; 'Jim Balistreri'; 'Jo Mazzeo'; 'judy sartor'; 'Julie Paolette'; 'K Yanchik'; 'Karen Losito'; 'Ken Frisco'; 'Kim Lekas'; 'L Rosenblum'; 'L. Johnson'; 'lawrence.richardson'; 'Linda Hurst'; 'Liz V'; 'M Lenza'; 'Marilyn Zuckerman -CB'; 'Mary Bolignino'; 'matt issaly'; 'N. Prever'; 'Pam Linan'; 'Paul Gerblick'; 'Richard Learner'; 'Richard Vecchio'; 'RichardCarrine'; 'Rita Silver'; 'Robin'; 'RP'; 'Sheila Aron'; 'Sis'; 'Stacy'; 'Steve Schour'; 'Stu Birke'; 'Sue Durgee'; 'Susann sussman'; 'Suzanne Noita'; 'sW'; 'T Haas'; 'Tari Carlson'; 'Tim Anthony'; 'tom borders'; 'Warren Heeg'; Burke, Tricia; jeannine felicetti; Laura Azua; Lea@parklandhome.com; Naomi KW; randi lipkin; T Goldenberg; Tali Isreal; Tedd Gatteau; Thomas Reutter; Vivan Solomon; 'Ron Castellano'; 'esperanza'; 'J Pezza'; 'nancy fearon'Subject:

After All of These Months!! Words cannot describe how sickly, cowardly and meager, this short-sighted and short-fall compromise actually is! With few exceptions, the FL Senate has behaved disgracefully.Rosanna Pirri
Florida Legislature passes property tax reform in time for January ballotTALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Oct. 30, 2007 – It’s voters’ turn: The Florida Legislature passed property tax reform and a proposed amendment will appear on the January ballot. The amendment offers moderate relief for homeowners and slight relief for commercial property, but it does not go as far as an earlier House proposal. To become law, the proposal must still receive 60 percent of the votes in the Jan. 29, 2008, election.The vote went down to the wire. Had the House and Senate not agreed by today, it would have been too late to get it on the January ballot, postponing any kind of tax relief.“We are pleased the Legislature understood that missing the deadline for a January vote of the people was not an option,” says the Florida Association of Realtors (FAR) President Nancy Riley. “Tax reform is necessary to stimulate our economy. To put tax relief off to November 2008 would have been devastating to our state.”The discussion included a number of considerations and not all made it into the final version. A complete breakdown of the individual considerations and how they fared in the final tax proposal is available in chart format at www.floridarelators.org under “What’s New.” Highlights of the passed legislation include:• Double the homestead exemption, but only for homes valued at more than $75,000 and not for school taxes• Allow owners of homestead property to transfer up to $500,000 in Save Our Homes benefits, including school taxes, to a new home• Impose a 10 percent assessment cap on non-homestead property for the next 10 years. The cap does not apply to school taxes. After 10 years, voters will have the option to restore the 10 percent cap• Allow businesses to exempt $25,000 in taxes paid on computers, office equipment and other personal propertyWith the deadline at hand, lawmakers had to quickly agree, and the final package represents a product that everyone could accept. The House, however, emphasized repeatedly that it would continue to work on property tax reform during the Legislature’s regular session next year, an opinion echoed by FAR.While in favor of portability, FAR worries about including a portability provision without also adding some kind of relief for first-time homebuyers, a move promoted heavily but one that did not make it into the final version. Without any kind of first-time homebuyer protection, the U.S. constitution’s “right to travel” provision could be the basis of a court challenge.© 2007 FLORIDA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®

JUST A THOUGHT

We recently had a chance to sit down with a "former" loss mitigation rep at a large mortgage servicing company. He is a former employee because too many of his files were being approved. Not for the short sale offer submitted, but rather because too many were greenlighted internally for review.Finally, after years of thinking there was a conspiracy, we now know for sure. The banks are playing us like a fiddle. Anyone who has ever spent 30 minutes on hold listening to horrible MUZAK, only to be "disconnected" and having to start over again, or having the bank "lose" or "not receive your LOA, has had the same thoughts of there must be something going on.With the tidal wave of foreclosures happening right now and with lots more coming our way, it has been determined and confirmed that this is basically a big game of CYA. Loan servicers and the banks they work for are not as much concerned about getting these bad loans off of their books as they are in keeping up appearances. Wall Street went nuts last week because Countrywide said things were getting better and they might actually turn a profit. Spoken by a man who is being investigated for dumping his company's stock. A bigger case of the Emperor's New Clothes I have never seen! Wall Street is engaging in the collective ignorance of obvious facts, and despite recognizing the absurdity of Countrywide's statements, they ignore the facts and perpetuate the myth. Hans Christian Andersen could not have done better.Today's loss mitigator is more concerned with delaying the inevitable...much more concerned about deferring the realization/monetization of loss. (See Loss Severity..see how our tips tie-in?)Remember in the eyes of Wall Street and Moody's...an under-performing or non performing loan is still an asset nonetheless as it sits on the books... however, once a short sale is approved, the truth of the matter comes to light and the non-performing asset is exposed for what it is and the real loss is incurred. For many lenders who seek investors, institutional and individuals. The ruse of maintaining the appearance of financial solvency is crucial in its quest for financing and future lending liquidity.

Floridians Need To Take Back Control Of Florida!

I Don't Know About You But I Think It Is Time To Say Enough Is Enough!

This Should Be Addressed Across All Levels Of Government All The Way To The White House.

Are You Tired Of Having Elected Officials Campaign On Promises Only To Back Track Once They Are Elected. Does Anybody Care About The Tax & Insurance Problems That Are Wearing Down The Lives Of Most Floridians Today. We Are Not Even Near The Bottom With The Real Estate Mess And Oh By The Way Let's Thank The Banks For This One And The Absent Minded Credit People That Granted Credit To People With The Pick A Payment Scenario. Yes It Is True You Can Buy A Half A Million Dollar House With An Income Of Say $80,000 And Pay Back Oh Let's Say 15 Cents On The Dollar For The First 3 Years. This Is Like Making The Deal With The Devil. So Many People Are In Trouble! I Guess Greed Got The Best Of Most People Along With The Banks.

Didn't We Learn Anything From The Greatest Generation That Battled The Depression And World War II. Where Have All The Great Leaders Gone. Or Is The New Way Of Life Where Everybody Rolls Over And Just Excepts Everything As Status Quo..

We Are Being Attacked On All Fronts: The Economy, Loss Of Good Jobs, Health Care, Foreign Politics, Cost Of Living, Gas Prices, Food Prices, Health Insurance, Home Insurance, Family Values. It Seems That We Are Living In A Society That Doesn't Know Right From Wrong.

How Many More County Commissioners Will Be Going To Jail! Your Guess Is As Good As Mine.

So Many People Are Out For Themselves Today. Our Parents Generation Accomplished Great Things. So Many Elected Officials Can't Even Come Together On Simple Key Issues & Problems.

I Have A Simple Fix For The State Of Florida! Make Florida A Tax Free State AS Far As Corporate Taxes Wherby Major Businesses & Businesses Would Be Exempt From Taxes As long As They Provide High Paying Key And Hi-Tech Jobs..

I Think It's Time To Fix The Problems Within The United States. How Can We Fix The World When We Can't Even Fix Ourselves!

I Know That If I Was Hired To Do A Job And It Was Determined That I Could Not Produce Or Do My Job Satisfactory I Would Be Fired And Sent Packing. I Think Politicians Can't Do Their Job And They Are Suppose To Do The Will Of The People. GET RID OF THEM!

What Do You Think?

What's Going On With The Florida Real Estate Market?

With Falling Prices And Buyer's In Full Control The Time To Buy Or Rent Is Now! More And More Inventory Is Coming Online Daily!
The Selection Is Great In Many Communities & Sellers Including Builders & Landlords Are Offering All Kinds Of Incentives!

If You Are Serious About Buying Or Renting You Need To Utilize The Expertise And Knowledge Of Top Agents Who Know The
Area Market For Over 20 Years! Don't Miss Out On The Best Deals In South Florida Real Estate In Years!

As Buyers Brokers Our Service To You Is Free! The Only Cost For You Is Your Loyalty To Work With Us And To Establish A
Business Relationship But More Importantly A Lasting Friendship.

We Will Assist You Securing The Best Deal On A New Mortgage! We Are Direct Lenders With Dominion Mortgage Services With
Over 80 Lenders Who Compete For Your Business! If You Are Looking For A Condo, Town Home, Villa, Single Family Home Or
New Construction We Will Do Our Very Best To Locate Your New Home That Meets Your Specific Requirements.

We Also Have A Full Range Of Rentals Including: Renaissance Commons* City Place* Brand New Intracoastal Communities*
Downtown Delray* Downtown Boca* Mizner Park* Oceanfront Condos* And Many More To Choose From!
CLICK HERE TO ACTIVATE YOUR BUYER & TENANT ALERT NOTIFICATION SYSTEM