The TaxWatch Research Archives

Q4 2018 Broward Schools SMART Program Report Review

Thursday, October 4, 2018[EasyDNNnews:EndIf:Event] / [EasyDNNnewsLocalizedText:Categories]: [EasyDNNnews:Categories]

Distributed to the Bond Oversight Committee on October 8, 2018, this report examines the SMART program quarterly report for Q4 of FY2018.

[EasyDNNnews:IfNotExists:EventRegistration][EasyDNNnewsLocalizedText:Read][EasyDNNnews:EndIf:EventRegistration][EasyDNNnews:IfExists:EventRegistration][EasyDNNnewsLocalizedText:Register][EasyDNNnews:EndIf:EventRegistration]

Vote NO on Amendment 1

Proposed Homestead Exemption Benefits Relatively Few Floridians and Will Likely Increase Taxes on Everyone Else

Thursday, September 27, 2018[EasyDNNnews:EndIf:Event] / [EasyDNNnewsLocalizedText:Categories]: [EasyDNNnews:Categories]

Floridians will be voting on as many as 13 state constitutional amendments on November 6, 2018. The first on the list, Amendment 1 (A1), would create a new $25,000 homestead exemption from property taxes.

Budget Watch - GR Estimates Down $32.6 Million

Friday, August 17, 2018[EasyDNNnews:EndIf:Event] / [EasyDNNnewsLocalizedText:Categories]: [EasyDNNnews:Categories]

Florida’s General Revenue (GR) Estimating Conference met on August 16 and forecast that the state would collect $13.1 million less than expected in FY2018-19 and $19.5 million less in FY2019-20. This reduces the estimated GR that the Legislature will have for the next state budget by $32.6 million, a change of less than one-tenth of 1 percent.

Budget Watch - Actual GR Collections in 2017-18 Exceed Estimates

Tuesday, August 14, 2018[EasyDNNnews:EndIf:Event] / [EasyDNNnewsLocalizedText:Categories]: [EasyDNNnews:Categories]

Actual net GR collections for the fiscal year that that just ended exceeded the last estimate (February 2018, adjusted for legislative changes) by $205.2 million (0.66 percent). This will be added to the unobligated FY2018-19 GR (cash reserve) balance of $1.026 billion to be carried forward to the next budget year (FY2019-20). These numbers, along with the current cycle of the state’s Estimating Conferences, can begin to define the fiscal outlook for the next state budget that will be developed by the 2019 Legislature.

Budget Watch - The Whole Story of State Spending

Friday, July 27, 2018[EasyDNNnews:EndIf:Event] / [EasyDNNnewsLocalizedText:Categories]: [EasyDNNnews:Categories]

The 2018 Legislature passed a $88.727 billion state budget—the General Appropriations Act (GAA)—which recently took effect on July 1. But that doesn’t tell the whole story of what was spent by lawmakers last session. While the GAA price tag gets all the publicity, other appropriations can go largely unnoticed.

2018 Education Leadership Roundtable Summary Report

Monday, July 16, 2018[EasyDNNnews:EndIf:Event] / [EasyDNNnewsLocalizedText:Categories]: [EasyDNNnews:Categories]

In April 2018, TaxWatch convened a 90-minute education roundtable in Orlando to discuss ways to improve the overall quality of pre-K–12 education by improving the leadership qualities of our public school principals. Joining the nine current PLA-winning principals were three former PLA-winning principals, the Chair of the State Board of Education, one current and one former member of the Florida House of Representatives, and a number of business and community leaders from across the state.

About Remote Sales Tax Collection

Wednesday, June 20, 2018[EasyDNNnews:EndIf:Event] / [EasyDNNnewsLocalizedText:Categories]: [EasyDNNnews:Categories]

The U.S. Supreme Court has issued a ruling that paves the way for a successful resolution to an issue Florida TaxWatch has fought for more than 15 years.

2018 How Florida Compares: Taxes

Tuesday, June 19, 2018[EasyDNNnews:EndIf:Event] / [EasyDNNnewsLocalizedText:Categories]: [EasyDNNnews:Categories]

The 2018 Edition of this annual pocket guide gives taxpayers and elected officials great insight as to how Florida's taxes compare to other states and the national average across a wide variety of metrics.

Workforce Development in Florida: A Literature Review

Monday, May 21, 2018[EasyDNNnews:EndIf:Event] / [EasyDNNnewsLocalizedText:Categories]: [EasyDNNnews:Categories]

Designing effective workforce development policy requires drawing on the wealth of knowledge provided by academic and scientific research; the purpose of this paper is to stitch the relevant literature together so as to develop a comprehensive approach to workforce development.

Q3 2018 Broward Schools SMART Program Report Review

Sunday, May 20, 2018[EasyDNNnews:EndIf:Event] / [EasyDNNnewsLocalizedText:Categories]: [EasyDNNnews:Categories]

Distributed to the Bond Oversight Committee on May 21, 2018, this report examines the SMART program quarterly report for Q3 of FY2018.

TaxWatch Analysis of Amendment 2

Monday, May 14, 2018[EasyDNNnews:EndIf:Event] / [EasyDNNnewsLocalizedText:Categories]: [EasyDNNnews:Categories]

In November 2018, Florida voters have a chance avoid a major property tax increase on owners of commercial or rental property, vacation or second homes, unimproved real estate, or any other non- homestead property. This tax increase will happen if the current 10 percent cap on non-homestead property assessments—scheduled to be repealed—is not reauthorized by the voters.

The Census Does More than Count People

Saturday, May 5, 2018[EasyDNNnews:EndIf:Event] / [EasyDNNnewsLocalizedText:Categories]: [EasyDNNnews:Categories]

The data from the 2020 Census will be used to allocate this funding for the next 10 years! This makes the upcoming 2020 Census vital to the quality of life in your community and all of Florida.