November 18, 2007 (LPAC)--As speculators are unable to "flip" condo units, and homeowners face mounting foreclosures, or find it impossible make lump-sum tax payments on mortgages that did not have escrow accounts, the total unpaid amount on property taxes in Florida's Miami-Dade and Broward counties rose to a record high $365 million. As Lyndon LaRouche warned weeks ago, the blowout of the real estate market is now rapidly escalating and hitting municipal budgets hard.

In Miami-Dade County, 41,544 residential property owners -- one of every 16 households -- failed to pay their 2006 property-tax bills. This represents an increase of 41% from the year before, according to county tax data. In Broward, the number jumped 54% to 29,962 -- about one per 21 households.