With the main players in general agreement over property taxes, a deal could be formalized in the next few days and lawmakers may begin deliberations by the weekend, Gov. Charlie Crist said Monday night.

"If you have consensus," he told the Times, "??why not seize the moment?"

Lawmakers will wrap up work on the budget Friday morning and the hope is the special session could be simply extended rather than taking a break and reconvening later this month.

That would save travel expenses and build on the goodwill and momentum of an easier-than-expected budget-cutting session.

"Things have moved very very well, and if we can keep that going we may be able to be done sooner than later. Which I know the people want,"?? Crist said.

Crist offered a host of caveats, but his comments -- based on detailed talks with top Republicans and Democrats -- represent the strongest sign that lawmakers will be able to refashion a deal to put before voters on Jan. 29.

A judge recently threw out the Legislature'??s "? so-called super?? homestead
exemption plan, saying it was misleading because people might not know
Save Our Homes would be phased out.

Lawmakers now agree that Save Our Homes, an annual 3 percent assessment
cap, will be preserved even if it has shifted more tax burden to
commercial and nonhomestead property owners.

The new deal could look something list this: Homeowners could carry the accrued Save Our Homes
benefit when they move, a concept known as ?"portability."?? The
current $25,000 homestead exemption would be doubled and there would be
help for first-time home buyers.

Businesses would get a break on taxes paid on equipment and lawmakers
want to end an assessment practice called "highest and best,"?? which can
make a used car lot (or similar lower end property) pay a lot more
simply because the land has more lucrative potential. Harder revenue caps on local government are also a possibility.

"??It'??s really starting to come together nicely," said Crist, a
Republican. "There'??s a very strong consensus and sentiment that we need
to keep it simple."

Working in the Legislature'??s favor is the lack of divisiveness that
marred negotiations over property taxes last spring as the House and
Senate battled over the depth of cuts while the governor largely stayed
out of the debate.

This time, Crist is asserting himself, meeting privately with
the players and calling them on the phone. Failure to put something
before voters during the January presidential primary could hurt Crist
as much as the Legislature, if not more.

Another advantage: The concepts are not new. Crist campaigned on portability and doubling the homestead exemption.

"??He'??s the ultimate optimist,"?? said Rep. Jack Seiler, a leading Democrat
from Broward County, who has been talking with the governor. ?"When the
governor is working with both parties and both chambers there's a lot
of reasons for optimism."

Plus, Seiler said, lawmakers would be eager to resolve the problem
rather than going into another special
session. "I would love to get
back to work Friday,"?? he said.