www.floridapropertytax.org/Documents/Wall%20St.%20Journ -
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Published on: 6/8/2005
Last Visited: 11/11/2006
June 8, 2005 PROPERTY REPORT Hitting the Roof Homeowners Push for Limits As Property-Tax Bills Soar; States Try Various Measures By RAY A. SMITH Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL June 8, 2005; Page B1 When Rhode Island dentist Harvey Waxman retired in 2000, he planned to immerse himself in woodworking, gardening and sailing his boat on nearby Narragansett Bay.Then the property taxes on his two-bedroom home in North Kingstown jumped to $17,000 from $7,000 in four years.Dr. Waxman dropped his hobbies and founded RIGHT, or Rhode Island Gets Honorable Taxation.Today, he travels the state giving speeches calling for changes in the way property taxes are levied."It just became so clear to me that something was flawed with the system," he says.His campaign may pay off.John J. Loughlin II, a Republican state representative, plans to introduce a bill next year that takes a page from Dr. Waxman's proposal, stating that property taxes for existing homeowners should be based on the amount the owner paid the prior year rather than on a home's fluctuating market value.
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That has prompted the rise of tax activists like Dr. Waxman, who are demanding cuts or at least a slowdown in the increases.
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Harvey Waxman of North Kingstown, R.I., became a taxlimit activist after his annual property tax bill jumped to $17,000 in 2004 from $7,000 in 2000.Page 1 of 3 WSJ.com - Hitting the Roof 6/20/2005 http://online.wsj.com/article print/0,,SB111818950436253596,00.html
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Meanwhile, Dr. Waxman says he's ecstatic his proposal is being taken seriously in Rhode Island."This has been my quest, my primary interest," he says.