Florida Chief Financial Officer Tom Gallagher said he is winning more support from state lawmakers for his plan to use excess tax revenue to ease the burden of homeowners' insurance.

State Senator Mike Fasano, R- New Port Richey, is publicly supporting a call by Mr. Gallagher to earmark surplus sales tax revenue to offset insurance assessments.

Sen. Fasano made his support public during a town hall meeting with the Florida Department of Financial Services.

"I am extremely pleased to learn that another legislator has offered public support for my proposal to refund surplus tax revenue to Florida's homeowners," said Mr. Gallagher. "I believe our record budget surplus can effectively fund all of Florida's priorities, and still leave enough to provide sensible insurance rate-relief to Florida's families."

Mr. Gallagher issued his tax proposal in November and said that he would continue to press state lawmakers to use the surplus revenue derived from hurricane reconstruction costs to offset rates for coverage.

"That money, which belongs to the taxpayers in the first place, is the first step in helping Floridians deal with insurance assessments, hurricane repairs, or hurricane preparation for this year's season," he said.

Premiums for homeowners' coverage have increased significantly over the past two years following multiple hurricane strikes on the state. Additionally, the state's insurer of last resort, Citizen's Property Insurance Corp. has taken on an increasing share of the market despite its own increased rates.

Mr. Fasano said in January that the jump in Citizens Property Insurance rates "now, and those expected for the future, are putting many people in jeopardy of losing the ability to either carry insurance or continuing to live in their homes."

It is unclear whether Mr. Gallagher's proposal would send the excess sales tax revenue, collected on items and materials sold during the rebuilding after a hurricane, to Citizens in an effort to reduce the assessment on homeowners, or directly to the homeowners themselves. The proposal says only that the excess tax revenues would be used to offset the assessments, and the state Department of Financial Services did not respond to phone calls.

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Backing Grows For Fla. Homeowners Plan

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