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The Florida Dental Association's Official Electronic Newsletter
November 2007
In This Issue:
- November Member Voices Survey Question
- October Member Voices:
Here’s What You Said Last Month About online courses: - DOH Delays Licensure Renewal Notices
- Dues Statements in the Mail!
- Give Kids A Smile Registration and Product Request Deadline
- Special Session on Property Taxes Adjourns
- Florida Dentists Honored for Support of National Museum of Dentistry
- BOD conducts CE "Pre-audit"
- Credit Card Fraud Targets Dentists
News Bites Archives
November Member Voices Survey Question
Would you use a blog area dedicated to FDA members if it were available on the FDA Web site? We want to hear from you! Click here to take the survey.
October Member Voices:
Here’s What You Said Last Month
About Peer-reviewed Articles:
A total of 23 people responded to the October Member Voices survey, which asked: “Should the Florida Dental Association print more peer-reviewed scientific dental articles in Today's FDA?” Of the respondents, 74 percent replied “yes” and only 26 percent said “no.”
Thank you, members, for your participation! Your opinion counts!
DOH Delays Licensure Renewal Notices
According to sources at the Department of Health, licensure renewal notices for dentists are not expected to be mailed until Nov. 15. The department had hoped to get them out in early November, but the process has been delayed by a week or two. The licensure renewal notice will contain the $250 assessment proposed and adopted by the Board of Dentistry.
Click here for more information.
Dues Statements in the Mail!
Dues statements were mailed on Nov. 7 for renewal of FDA membership for 2008-2009. Be sure to look for the statement and encourage your colleagues to pay their dues early!
Give Kids A Smile Registration and Product Request Deadline
Thursday, Nov. 15 is the deadline for all Give Kids A Smile (GKAS) coordinators to register their affiliate dental association’s GKAS 2008 program with the American Dental Association (ADA) on www.ada.org. During the online registration process, products from Sullivan-Schein® and Colgate® can be requested. Despite generous donations of products by national sponsors, there are never enough products to meet all requests. GKAS programs that meet the requirements of a true GKAS event (providing treatment in addition to dental screening and oral hygiene education), have a better chance of receiving products than programs that do not meet the criteria. The ADA will post a list of product recipients and the number of kits they will receive on its Web site on Monday, Dec. 3. Products should be received by GKAS events on the list by Jan. 21, 2008.
Funding from the Florida Dental Health Foundation for the statewide GKAS event will allow the Florida Dental Association (FDA) to provide a limited supply of dental product goody bags for each known GKAS program in Florida. If you have questions about the registration process, please contact Mary Lyons (800) 877-9922 ext.180 or send an e-mail to mlyons@floridadental.org.
Special Session on Property Taxes Adjourns
The Florida Legislature concluded its fourth Special Session of 2007 on Oct. 29. The Special Session was the second of the year that addressed property tax reform. The first proposed amendment to the Constitution passed by the Legislature earlier this summer was thrown off the ballot by a Leon County judge as being misleading.
During this Special Session, the Legislature passed a new proposed Constitutional Amendment replacing the earlier "Super Exemption" thrown out by the judge. This newly proposed constitutional amendment will appear on the Jan. 29, 2008 Presidential Primary ballot in lieu of the Super Exemption. It must receive 60 percent of the vote to be included in our Constitution.
The new amendment focuses on:
• Doubling the present $25,000 homestead exemption
• "Portability" of the Save our Homes amendment, which caps increases on homestead properties at 3 percent yearly
• Creates a new $25,000 tangible personal property tax exemption for businesses
• Creates a new 10 percent cap on the growth of non-homestead properties
The House made several changes to the agreement, including provisions for working waterfronts, low-income seniors, first-time home buyers and a 5 percent non-homestead property cap. The Senate did not approve of these changes. After a day-long debate, the House agreed to the language. Since this is a proposed constitutional amendment by the Legislature, it does not need to be approved by the Governor.
The following is a brief description of each item in more detail:
Double Homestead Exemption
An additional $25,000 homestead exemption is provided for the value of homestead property above $50,000. This exemption does not apply to school taxes.
Portability
Homestead property owners will be able to transfer their Save Our Homes benefit (up to $500,000) to a new homestead within two years of giving up their previous homestead. If the just value of the new homestead is more than the previous home’s just value, the entire differential can be transferred; if the new homestead has a lower just value, the amount of the accumulated benefit that may be transferred is proportional to the value of the new homestead. (For those who gave up their homestead in 2007 before the amendment was passed, the differential may be transferred if they apply for a new homestead Jan. 1, 2008 or Jan. 1, 2009.) This provision applies to all taxes, including school taxes.
Tangible Personal Property Exemption
A $25,000 exemption is provided for each tangible personal property tax return. This provision applies to all taxes.
Assessment Cap for Non-homestead Property
Non-homestead property will have a 10 percent assessment cap (similar to Save Our Homes) but the cap will apply only to non-school levies. The 10 percent cap will sunset after 10 years, when it will be presented to the voters for re-approval. Most residential property will be reassessed at just value when it is sold; commercial property and residential properties with 10 or more units will be reassessed after a significant improvement or a sale. This provision will not take effect until the 2009 tax roll, or 2010 if the amendment is approved in November. This provision does not apply to school taxes
Florida Dentists Honored for Support
of National Museum of Dentistry
The Dr. Samuel D. Harris National Museum of Dentistry (NMD) honored members of its National Advisory Committee and state dental organization leadership at the American Dental Association Annual Session in San Francisco in September. National Advisory Committee members work in their home states and districts to engage colleagues with NMD's mission to raise awareness of the importance of good oral health in overall health, and to secure support for NMD’s educational programs and preservation efforts. Its members have leadership roles in important dental and oral health organizations, and their work is invaluable in raising the national level of awareness and support for NMD.
BOD conducts CE "Pre-audit"
According to officials with both the Florida Department of Health and the Board of Dentistry (BOD), the profession is undergoing a "pre-audit" of continuing education (CE) credits. The BOD choose to use the "pre-audit" approach in lieu of an "after audit" approach in order to improve compliance numbers. The pre-audit has been used by several other professions in the past.
A statistically valid number of licensed dentists (588) were chosen for this audit cycle. Those 588 were then vetted through CE Broker. Those who have a CE Broker record were removed as CE compliance information is available on those individuals. Dentistry has very low subscription rates with CE Broker, so few dentists were filtered at this point. The remainder then received the pre-audit letter. A licensee has until mid-April to provide the necessary documentation that all CE hours were fulfilled.
In summary, all dentists who have been selected for a CE pre-audit have been put on notice that they have the next few months to complete any necessary CE credits.
Credit Card Fraud Targets Dentists
Currently Bank of America and other credit card issuers are experiencing attempts by an unauthorized male caller to fraudulently use the personal customer information from dentists throughout the nation. He is calling dentists and identifying himself as an agent of Visa Security and is requesting the verification of personal customer information. This personal information consists of the customer’s social security number, credit card account numbers, mother’s maiden name, date of birth and home address. The caller is contacting both dentist offices and their residences. He is not a representative of Bank of America or Visa. Neither agency would ever solicit personal information via the telephone.
If you experience one of these calls, please do not provide any information and hang up immediately. Please contact Tamara Graham of Bank of America Credit Card Fraud at 800-441-7048, extension 80363 if you encounter this subject.