Florida Governor Responds to Reader Questions About Insurance, Property Taxes

From Jupiter to Hollywood, the triple-whammy of Florida mortgage costs, property taxes and homeowner’s insurance rates have people riled.

When given the chance to pose a question to Gov. Charlie Crist, South Florida Sun-Sentinel readers overwhelmingly focused on the double-edged sword of the Florida housing market crisis, demanding to know what the governor and Legislature plan to do to make sure homes stay affordable.

In agreeing to answer readers’ questions, Crist said he understands the frustration. He led a drive for homeowner’s insurance reform during a January emergency session of the Legislature and is pushing lawmakers now to give the state’s homeowners some tax relief.

But he concedes the battle has only just begun.

“Stay in Florida because help is on the way,” Crist said in response to a Dania Beach woman’s lament that she may have to leave Florida to find an affordable place to live.

“It will be in the form of property insurance and property tax reductions. We’re just at the very beginning of chopping down these twin towers of pocketbook issues that are … crushing [Floridians] financially.”

To the Boca Raton father of a newborn worried about his rates on homeowner’s insurance doubling at the same time he had to start paying $1,000 a month for child care, Crist said the Legislature’s work months ago has only started to have an effect on the market rates.

Key to the reforms, which Crist describes as “a rolling thunder coming in,” is the decision to allow Citizens Property Insurance Corp., once the insurer of last resort, to become competitive with private companies.

“The insurance industry would always threaten us by saying ‘If you don’t let us raise our rates, we’ll leave the state.’ Obviously, completely lacking in any sense of compassion,” Crist said.

“Today, if they make that threat, we say ‘Bye, bye.’ We don’t need you here anymore because we know we have a solvent, well-funded company that will not leave our people and … can actually now compete.”

With Florida home mortgage costs already pushing residents to the brink, relief along other fronts can’t come soon enough.

Go to the Sun-Sentinel to read some of the questions readers submitted to the state’s chief executive, and Crist’s answers…