President’s Message Karen Huestis CSA President Welcome back to Canada. Hopefully, by the time you read this column things will have warmed up considerably! Bill and I spent a busy winter on the annual winter tour answering questions andmeeting many of our members. As always, the tour began at the Snowbird Extravaganza in Lakeland, Florida. From there, we headed to Pharr, Texas for theWinter Texans’ Snowbird Extravaganza followed by the Canadian Snowbird Celebration in Mesa, Arizona. We then headed out on our Winter InformationMeeting tour which began with stops in Indio andWinterhaven, California. From there, we headed back to Florida for meetings in Immokalee, Clearwater, Bradenton and Punta Gorda. Great shows, great crowds, lots of memberships sold and many happy snowbirds. Thanks to all of you who came out and to all of those who volunteered their time in helping us put these shows on. Without our many volunteers who assist year in and year out, none of this would be possible. Thanks also to our partners at Medipac for all that they do in bringing these first-class events to our members. U.S. House Bill H.R. 3513, the Canadian Snowbird Visa Act, introduced by Congressional Representatives Elise Stefanik (R-NY-21) and Ted Deutch (D-FL-22), now has 34 co-sponsors in the United States House of Representatives. In addition, critical third-party endorsements have been secured by Visit Florida, Canada Arizona Business Council, Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association, California Retailers Association, American Society of Travel Agents, Canada Texas Chamber of Commerce and the Vermont Quebec Enterprise Initiative. In March, I met with Florida Senator Bill Nelson and staff from the office of Florida Senator Marco Rubio. Both expressed support for the bill and we are hopeful that they will both shortly agree to co-sponsor the legislation in the United States Senate. CSA staff members are working hard finalizing the 2018 membership renewal campaign. Included in our first mailing will be the most recent version of IRS Form 8840, the Closer Connection Exception Statement for Aliens. Any Canadian snowbird who typically spends four months or longer in the United States every calendar year needs to file this form with the IRS, in order to be treated as a non-resident for tax purposes. One form needs to be filed per person and forms should be filed by the deadline of June 15. If you have any questions related to the filing of Form 8840, please do not hesitate to contact our office toll-free at 1-800-265-3200 or by e-mail at csastaff@snowbirds.org. Florida property taxes are back on the state ballot for this November’s upcoming election. In 2008, Florida voters approved a constitutional amendment that limited the amount by which certain property taxes could increase each year. For snowbirds, this meant a 10 per cent cap on property assessment increases for non-homestead properties. Previous to this, there was absolutely no cap for snowbirds. In 2019, that yearly cap will expire unless Amendment 2 passes on the November 2018 ballot. Amendment 2 states: “Limitations on Property Tax Assessments – Proposing an amendment to the State Constitution to permanently retain provisions currently in effect, which limit property tax assessment increases on specified nonhomestead real property, except for school district taxes, to 10 per cent each year. If approved, the amendment removes the scheduled repeal of such provisions in 2019 and shall take effect January 1, 2019.” In order to be placed on the 2018 ballot, Amendment 2 must first be passed by both the Florida House of Representatives and by the Florida Senate. The good news is that it has already been passed by the Florida legislature with overwhelming bipartisan support. The amendment was passed in the Florida Senate with unanimous approval and in the House with 97 per cent support. The bad news is that in order for the cap to remain, 60 per cent of electors must approve the ballot measure in November…which is obviously a high threshold. The Florida Realtors trade group is leading the charge locally and, as evidenced by the overwhelming support which they have received thus far on both sides of the political aisle, it’s off to a good start. The CSA supports the passage of Amendment 2 and will be doing all that we can to let Floridians knowwhy passage is essential to the continued economic well-being of the state of Florida. Welcome home and best of luck with your spring cleaning. 10 | www.snowbirds.org
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