League of Cities: YesOn1 Ads Are False and Misleading
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League slams “phony baloney” TV tax ads
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 9, 2008
Contact: Sharon Berrian
(850) 222-9684
TALLAHASSEE – New television ads backed by millions of dollars in special interest money are riddled with falsehoods, half-truths and misleading claims about the Amendment 1 property tax plan, the Florida League of Cities declared today.
For example, the YesOn1 ad claims that Amendment 1 “doubles the homestead exemption.” That is a false statement. According to published reports from the St. Petersburg Times and the NY Times Regional Newspapers, the amendment does NOT double the homestead exemption.
Sources: St. Petersburg Times, “Homestead exemption promise doesn't add up,” January 8, 2008
Lakeland Ledger, “Don't Bank That Florida 'Tax Cut' Just Yet,” January 6, 2008
The ad also states that “all homeowners benefit” from the plan. That is misleading. Younger first-time homebuyers are already forced to bear an unfair share of the tax burden to subsidize long-time homeowners who have accumulated tax benefits through Save Our Homes. Amendment 1 will worsen this unfairness and make it more difficult for first-time homebuyers to attain the American dream of home ownership. And in some cases, the property taxes of average Floridians could actually increase as a result of continued tax-shifting.
Source: Bradenton Herald, November 15, 2007
The ad is also misleading on the issue of low-income seniors and working families, the League asserted. According to the Miami Herald, "This proposed constitutional amendment doesn't have specific provisions for low-income seniors, family marinas or affordable-housing owners."
Source: Miami Herald, "Tax cut plan passes; now voters decide," October 29, 2007
“This is why people need to think long and hard about this proposal,” said John Thomas, director of Policy and Political Affairs for the Florida League of Cities. “These half-truths and misleading claims show that you can spend a lot of money on misleading TV ads, but it won’t make the claims true.”
YesOn1 has raised nearly $3 million from well-heeled special interests to blanket the airwaves with television advertising in advance of the January 29 election.
“Alarm bells should be going off with these voters when they see these false and misleading ads and the million-dollar contributions behind them, and they should be wondering who’s really benefiting from Amendment 1,” Thomas said.
The membership of the Florida League of Cities voted in November to oppose the Amendment 1 tax plan.
Paid political advertisement, paid for by the Florida League of Cities, 301 South Bronough Street, Suite 300, Tallahassee, FL 32301.
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