Marine Industry

[PrincessSlaya!]

I Thought this may insterest some.


On election day, Florida voters will have a chance to help save the marine industry. The past several years have seen a vast increase in the value of waterfront properties, mostly due to developers buying up the land for luxury condos. The problem is, the Florida constitution requires land to be taxed at its highest possible use, rather than what it is currently being used for. This has caused marinas, shipyards, boatyards and such to have their taxes raised as much as 600%, based on what the value would be if a condo was built there instead of a marina. Most of these businesses are family run and cannot absorb these costs. This has and will continue to drive the owners out of business, causing loss of water access for all, not just boaters.



Passage of this amendment will not stop development, will not affect sales of the land to developers, will not hurt anyone's rights to use their land. What it will do is allow marina and boatyard operators to be able to afford to stay in business. In fact, this provision has been available to farmers for year. Otherwise, just because there could possibly one day be a tract of development on their land, they would have to pay taxes so high they could not afford to farm there.



Imagine if your taxes went up 600%20just because a larger house or a different business could fit on your property. That's what these people face.



You may ask, what about the lost tax revenue? The marine industry is an $18 billion a year industry, larger than Florida's citrus industry. Over 220,000 people are directly employed by it. The loss of this money will be far greater detriment to the economy of Florida than some taxes. Go tot he waterfront of Ft Lauderdale one day and look at the large yachts who come in. A 150 foot boat spends minimum of $20,000 a month just in dockage, plus at least that much in services, plus that much in crew wages who spend their money here. That's at least 60K a month for one boat. And there are many dozens of these boats who spend time in Florida.



This amendment is even backed by the Property Appraiser of Palm Beach County, Gary Nikolits, CFA.



Please consider voting Yes on Amendment 6 when you cast your ballots November 4.



For full text of the initiative, click here:

http://election.dos.state.fl.us/init...t/pdf/12-7.pdf



Miami Herald article

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/poli...ry/725348.html



Palm Beach Post

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/search/...ont_Taxes.html



Amendment information

http://www.saveourwaterfronts.org/




Thank You,

[kvzeyde]

Originally Posted by mrsrogers

I Thought this may insterest some.


On election day, Florida voters will have a chance to help save the marine industry. The past several years have seen a vast increase in the value of waterfront properties, mostly due to developers buying up the land for luxury condos. The problem is, the Florida constitution requires land to be taxed at its highest possible use, rather than what it is currently being used for. This has caused marinas, shipyards, boatyards and such to have their taxes raised as much as 600%, based on what the value would be if a condo was built there instead of a marina. Most of these businesses are family run and cannot absorb these costs. This has and will continue to drive the owners out of business, causing loss of water access for all, not just boaters.



Passage of this amendment will not stop development, will not affect sales of the land to developers, will not hurt anyone's rights to use their land. What it will do is allow marina and boatyard operators to be able to afford to stay in business. In fact, this provision has been available to farmers for year. Otherwise, just because there could possibly one day be a tract of development on their land, they would have to pay taxes so high they could not afford to farm there.



Imagine if your taxes went up 600%20just because a larger house or a different business could fit on your property. That's what these people face.



You may ask, what about the lost tax revenue? The marine industry is an $18 billion a year industry, larger than Florida's citrus industry. Over 220,000 people are directly employed by it. The loss of this money will be far greater detriment to the economy of Florida than some taxes. Go tot he waterfront of Ft Lauderdale one day and look at the large yachts who come in. A 150 foot boat spends minimum of $20,000 a month just in dockage, plus at least that much in services, plus that much in crew wages who spend their money here. That's at least 60K a month for one boat. And there are many dozens of these boats who spend time in Florida.



This amendment is even backed by the Property Appraiser of Palm Beach County, Gary Nikolits, CFA.



Please consider voting Yes on Amendment 6 when you cast your ballots November 4.



For full text of the initiative, click here:

http://election.dos.state.fl.us/init...t/pdf/12-7.pdf



Miami Herald article

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/poli...ry/725348.html



Palm Beach Post

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/search/...ont_Taxes.html



Amendment information

http://www.saveourwaterfronts.org/




Thank You,

Locals here in the FL Panhandle support it. I believe it is a good change and will vote for it.

[SpearMax]

Very good idea!

[Mobile Diver]

I like it!!

[jfjf]

With the new regulations on commercial and recreational fishing and recent fuel price increases, I'm not so sure we still need all the marinas we have now. Why exactly does it benefit Florida to give these specific businesses huge tax breaks for not making the most profitable use of their land? As the state experiences significant shortfalls in revenue, why should we burden all the OTHER businesses and residents with higher taxes to facilitate a tax subsidy for the marine industry?

I'm honestly trying hard to understand why this should be done.

[makomaster]

I think it would help,but I would really like to see the over development of our inshore waters and estuaries put to a stop,hate to be a pimple in the ass of progress but I firmly beleive this is the main reason for decline in our fisheries.
I think if they are being taxed less than some of their costs would come down too.