by Michele Newbern Gillis
Staff Writer
Rep. Aaron Bean visits with the Amelia Island/Nassau County Association of Realtors once a year after the legislative session to give them on a legislative update.
“The biggest question we had as we convened this year in Tallahassee is what we are going to do with all that extra money?” said Bean at the meeting at the B.A. Pig restaurant last month. “We got some good news when we got there — we had $9 billion dollars in surplus money. It was money that we really didn’t expect to have.”
Bean said that money came from a rebounding of tourism in the state, construction and real estate sales.
“We have a great little housing boom thanks to the reconstruction due to the hurricanes that have ravished our state the last couple of years,” he said. “And, as you all know, we have had an extremely exuberant real estate market.”
Bean said they had to decide what to do with that $9 billion.
“Of that $9 billion, we put $6.4 billion away in reserve accounts for rainy days when there is that next hurricane, terrorist event or just a downturn in our economy,” said Bean. “Next big thing that received money was education. We gave $1.2 billion to education. Nassau County did extremely well with an 11 percent increase. Nassau County Schools got $6,668 per child, which I think they are going to do a lot of great things with.”
Another big winner, Bean said, was tax relief for the state.
Three things they decided on to provide tax relief is a Hurricane Preparation Week, where you can buy hurricane preparation items tax free; Back to School Week, which will be held the last week of August, is where you can buy clothes and school supplies tax free; and Energy Efficient Week, which will be held Oct. 5-11 when you can buy select appliances and equipment that are energy efficient without paying taxes.
Bean said affordable housing was another issue addressed this year.
“This is $540 million to be spent on affordable housing,” he said. “I’m afraid that is just going to be a drop in the bucket.”
The eminent domain issue was addressed and Bean said there is a constitutional amendment that will be on the ballot this fall that will essentially prohibit the government from taking land and giving it to a private developer.
During the meeting, Matthew Wilson, Florida Association of Realtors District One vice president, presented Britni Moore of Fernandina Beach High School with her scholarship of $5,000. Moore wrote an essay explaining why Realtors are important to the community.
photos by Michele Newbern Gillis