(Editor's Note: "...And unless the Legislature does something for pari-mutuels — a possibility Saunders left open — Seminole gaming is “going to kill, I believe — the gaming at this track here.”)
Sen. Saunders: Don't expect state
to pass further property tax breaks

By Elizabeth Wright
Staff Writer
© 2007 Naples Daily News
Wednesday, December 5, 2007

Don’t expect Tallahassee to approve a new round of property tax rollbacks in the coming session.

Speaking to the Bonita Springs City Council on Wednesday night, State Sen. Burt Saunders said it’s unlikely that the Legislature will do more than talk about further property tax tweaks.

“I don’t believe there will be much appetite in the Florida legislature to do anything additional,” said Saunders, R-Naples. “I think the Legislature will stand down this coming year.”

For local governments, that means no new cuts being forced on their budgets — something some Bonita Springs officials have worried about.

At a local legislative delegation meeting last week Mayor Jay Arend praised the city’s relatively low millage rate, and asked state legislators not to treat every city the same if more rollbacks were required.

Saunders said he recognizes the need to find a balance with the jobs local governments have with the requests of the state’s property owners.

He said what the Legislature has done so far — including proposed property tax changes that will go to voters Jan. 29 — will meet that balance.

“People are getting squeezed real hard,” he said.

It isn’t just property taxes — it’s also property insurance, he said, and he noted the struggling state of the state’s economy — something he doesn’t expect will improve right away.

“We’re going to be dealing with it, I believe, for a couple more years,” he said.

It’s a slump, he said, and to get out of it the state needs to become friendlier to a greater variety businesses, and not just the usual mix of housing, agriculture and tourism.

“We have to attract high-tech, high-wage businesses here,” Saunders said, and to him, it’s worth spending money to attract those businesses.

In the long-term, Saunders said, he expects the state’s economy to recover and its population to continue to grow.

“I think the long-term economic future of Florida is very, very bright,” he said.

For one specific Bonita Springs business, though, Saunders suggested the future may be more troubled.

In response to Councilman Richard Ferreira’s questions about new gambling being allowed in the state, Saunders said new casinos for the Seminole Tribe certainly won’t help the Naples-Fort Myers Greyhound Track.

The status of Gov. Charlie Crist’s agreement with the tribe is still being debated, but Saunders said gambling for the Seminoles is all but certain.

And unless the Legislature does something for pari-mutuels — a possibility Saunders left open — Seminole gaming is “going to kill, I believe — the gaming at this track here.”

If the state does decide to “help” the pari-mutuels, Saunders said the city wouldn’t need to worry about not getting a share of the revenue to improve local roads and services to support it.

“I’m not suggesting that anything’s going to happen,” he said, but if it does: “no one’s going to be left high and dry on that.”

This coming legislative session will be Saunders’ last before his term expires, and he described how he’s approaching that time with “mixed emotion.”

“I’ve enjoyed the ride very well,” he said.