A radical redesign that would abolish homestead property taxes and replace them with the nation’s highest sales tax set off a battle between struggling homeowners and local officials who claim their ability to provide services would be crippled. An average homeowner would save $2,283 while counties and cities that have taken in windfall property tax revenues in recent years would see their revenues slashed to 2001 levels, with adjustments for growth and inflation, and then capped. People with non-homestead properties would benefit from a rollback.

“Sounds good to me,” said Lawrence Morrissey, 53, who owns a West Palm Beach FL home, and was one of 500 who showed up to complain about property taxes at a legislative hearing at Palm Beach Community College last week. “That would great, oh my God. These property taxes are killing us. It’s murder.”

Florida House Republican leaders on Wednesday unveiled the plan as a way to resolve a property tax crisis. The plan would ease the costs of homeownership but could drive a deeper financial wedge between the poor and the wealthy across Florida. The plan would go to voters as a proposed constitutional amendment, which, if passed by the Legislature, would raise the statewide sales tax by 2.5 percentage points, from 6 percent to 8.5 percent. California has the highest tax at 7.25 percent.

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