While many Florida voters don’t think enough has been done to bring down their property taxes or insurance premiums, more than 70 percent say Gov. Charlie Crist has done a good job during his first six months in office, a new poll shows.
And the new Republican governor is as popular with Democrats as those in his own party.
Overall, Crist received a favorable rating of 73 percent with just 11 percent not approving of his performance. Even 72 percent of Democratic voters gave the governor high marks compared to 10 percent who regarded him unfavorably.
“Nothing has brought his numbers down, not even public disillusionment over what the Legislature and Gov. Crist have done so far with property insurance and property taxes,” said Peter Brown, assistant director the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. “Clearly, there is a disconnect between Gov. Crist’s approval rating and the two big issues they (voters) are concerned about.”
Among those who pay property insurance, a third said their bills have increased since lawmakers passed a new law aimed at reducing insurance costs and 41 percent said they are paying about the same amount.
Voters favored a proposal on the Jan. 29 ballot that would create a so-called “super” homestead exemption to bring down property taxes, although most acknowledged they knew little if anything about it.
The 57 percent approval (17 percent disapproved) though, falls short of the 60 percent needed to amend the Florida Constitution.
The amendment would give homeowners the choice of maintaining their present $25,000 homestead exemption and cap on the taxable value of their homes, or a 75 percent exemption off the first $200,000 of their home’s value and 15 percent off the next $300,000.
The poll interviewed 1,106 voters July 12-16 and had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
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