Florida insurance agents, in addition to countless other professions, have dodged a bullet. A proposed Amendment 5 was set to appear on state ballots in November. The amendment, which proposed to eliminate the education portion of local property taxes in exchange for some amorphous replacement “identified or created by the legislature,” was scotched by a circuit court judge in mid-August. An immediate and expected appeal to the Florida Supreme Court followed, and on September 3 the justices unanimously ordered Amendment 5 removed from the November ballot, stating, as had the lower courts, that the ballot title and summary were misleading to voters.

The removal brought shout-outs from heavyweights on both sides of the issue. Governor Charlie Crist and the real estate community expressed distress and dismay, while consumer groups as varied as Florida TaxWatch, AARP, teachers' unions and a roster of insurance organizations broke out in enthusiastic — if short-lived –applause.

We have learned over the years that advocates of sales taxes on services and/or eliminating sales tax exemptions are indefatigable. We are already hearing calls for the legislature to take up property taxes in the next regular session or even in a special session, forcing us once again to fight back the services tax demons.