Property taxes the topic of select committee.
The Florida House Select Committee on Property Taxes is meeting today and tomorrow to begin discussions on property tax reductions. Gov. Ron DeSantis and Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia want a complete elimination of property taxes. But state legislators working on the proposal say that's off the table. State Rep. Ryan Chamberlin has outlined a three-step plan to reduce billions in property taxes. His proposal would replace property taxes by imposing a 5% transaction fee on real estate sales; a 5% transaction fee on rideshares, hotels, and amusement parks; and a 3-cent sales tax going specifically to schools. It’s been months since DeSantis first pressured state lawmakers to eliminate the property tax. His demand set the stage for a tax-cut feud between DeSantis and House Speaker Daniel Perez; Perez wanted to focus instead on slashing the state sales tax.
Scientists share IRL muck findings.
Brevard County’s Save Our Indian River Lagoon program is leading hundreds of projects to make the estuary system healthier — and muck removal projects are an important piece of that restoration strategy. At a meeting of the program’s citizen oversight committee Friday, scientists from Florida Tech discussed some of the key science behind those muck removal projects.
Assistant Professor of Ocean Sciences Austin Fox says muck deposits in the lagoon system have built up over time — sometimes hundreds of years. As the muck decays, it releases large amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus into the water. Fox says removing that muck is like taking the trash out.
“Think in your house. Your trash can overflows, you get pasta sauce all over the carpets; now, instead of just taking out the trash, right, now, you have to change the rugs. Right? And so if we can avoid that overflow, I think there's incredible value to that.”
According to data shared at the meeting, muck decay is by far the biggest source of nitrogen coming into Brevard’s lagoon watershed each year. The second-biggest nitrogen source is stormwater.
Rainbow colors light up the Melbourne Causeway.
Sunday evening rainbow colors lit up the Melbourne Causeway. WFIT’s Terri Wright tells us the demonstration was in response to the removal of rainbow crosswalks across the state:
A variety of rainbow flags, including the American flag, were among those flying during Light Up Melbourne with Pride. The event featuring hundreds of colorful lights was held in response to the removal of art, such as that at the Pulse memorial, and as a show of resistance and resilience. The event was organized by the LBGTA Democratic Caucus.
80 launches, headed toward 100.
SpaceX’s sunrise launch from Cape Canaveral on Sunday was the 80th launch of the year on the Space Coast, which is on track to break the annual record and surpass 100 for the year.
Tomorrow morning SpaceX will launch three orbiting observatories for NASA and NOAA. A space telescope will study Earth’s halo. An orbiter will document the sun’s activity. And a solar telescope will monitor space weather. The Falcon 9 is slated to liftoff at 7:32AM Tuesday.
Autumnal Equinox arrives.
It still feels like summer, despite fall officially arriving at 2:19 this afternoon. And the National Hurricane Center is now tracking three systems in the Atlantic, but none are threatening Florida yet.
