October 13, 2007
Bush Strengthens Floridian Property Rights
Florida governor Jeb Bush has ratified a law strengthening the rights of private Florida property owners in the state against possible action on the part of local authorities. Bill HB 1567 - passed into law - puts strict limits on the right of local governments to acquire private property through ‘eminent domain’ (compulsory purchase). From now on, authorities using eminent domain to seize homes or land must offer to sell the property back to the previous owner as soon as it is no longer required by the authority itself. If the previous owner does not wish to buy back the property, the authority must wait ten years before it is allowed to sell it, and then the sale must follow a competitive bidding process.
The new law follows months of debate across the US regarding the eminent domain issue after the Supreme Court found in favour of the city of New London, Connecticut, in a ruling of which the court declared that local authorities could use eminent domain to summarily purchase private property and sell it on to private developers if that process would be of financial benefit to the local community. Eminent domain was orginally introduced to allow the compulsory purchase of homes for the development of roads and other public works
As property taxes for new properties and commercial real estate are invariably much higher than the property taxes for older existing homes, the court’s decision theoretically opened the floodgates for a wave of compulsory purchases across the country wherever authorities were able to demonstrate that they would gain increased tax revenues from developing hitherto private land. The new Floridian legislation is the latest in a series of bills passed by individual states to protect their citizens from potential abuses resulting from the court’s ruling.
Speaking after signing the bill last Thursday, governor Bush said that Florida now has the toughest protections for private property rights in the country.
“The new law severely restricts state and local governments’ power to take private property and transfer to another private entity,” Bush said. “The right to own property is fundamental to freedom. Property ownership is the ultimate reward for hard work and symbolises personal responsibility and independence.”
Posted on: Florida
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