Tax amendment faces court fight

Leon County Circuit Judge John Cooper, who’s been skeptical of the effects of Amendment 5, which would abolish most school property taxes, will rule today on whether the voter initiative will even be printed on the state ballot for the November 4 election. Critics claim that the tax plan’s title and summary are misleading and should not be put to a vote. The plan summary says schools will be guaranteed the same money they’d get from the envisaged loss in property taxes, but few provisions have been made to close the gap between the $8 million in property tax eliminations and the projected gains of a 1 cent sales tax increase.