TALLAHASSEE -- Rising gas prices, the falling real estate market and deep state budget cuts have not only brought South Florida's economy to a crawl, they've deflated the once sky-high approval ratings of Gov. Charlie Crist, according to a new Miami Herald poll.

The governor is doing a fair to poor job of handling South Florida issues, according to 52 percent of the people surveyed by Zogby International in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties. That compares with 43 percent who say he's doing an excellent to good job.

It's the first time in Crist's 18 months of office that more people give the Republican a negative rating than a positive one. The one area South Floridians criticize him most: property taxes.

''This is what happens to chief executives when the economy is down,'' said pollster John Zogby. ``He was doing well across the board and now the fact that a sitting Republican governor who was polling 54 percent is down to 43 percent is a sign. The recession is maturing.''

Zogby's previous polls in South Florida had Crist's approval ratings at 54-36 percent in September and 54-40 percent in December in the three counties surveyed, making him one of the most popular Republican governors in the nation. In January, the governor blanketed the state with a high-profile push to pass Amendment 1 to cut property taxes and vowed that it would result in taxes ``dropping like a rock.''

Today, 59 percent of South Floridians say the governor's handling of property taxes is fair to poor while only 30 percent say it's been good to excellent. The poll surveyed 807 South Floridians and has a margin of error of 3.5 percentage points.

Several high-profile constitutional amendments are also on the skids, according to poll results.

Amendment 5, which would replace all property taxes that pay for schools with a sales-tax increase and other revenue, falls short of the 60 percent threshold needed to be written into the state Constitution if the election were held today, according to the poll. South Florida residents today say they support the so-called tax swap 45-35 percent, but a whopping 20 percent are still unsure where they stand.

''There's still a vast lack of knowledge,'' said John McKay, who sponsored the amendment before the Taxation and Budget Reform Commission, that panel that put the amendment on the ballot. ``There's a whole education process we still have to go through.''

McKay has formed the ''Yes On Five'' campaign to promote the amendment. It will be up against the Protect Florida's Future campaign, a coalition of business, education, health care and agriculture groups who oppose the amendment for an assortment of reasons.

Schools, nursing homes and hospitals fear the Legislature won't replace the $8 billion lost when the amendment reduces all property taxes by an average of 25 percent. Business and agricultural groups oppose it because they worry that the Legislature will replace the money by taxing their services and products. The most popular way to replace the property tax revenue would be a combination of a one-cent increase in the sales tax, elimination of some sales tax exemptions and reduced state spending, according to 43 percent of South Floridians.

Other high-profile amendments face equally uncertain fate. Amendment 2, which would define marriage as a legal union between a man and a woman and outlaw same-sex marriage, gets support from 50 percent of respondents, 39 percent opposed and 11 percent unsure. Amendment 8, which would eliminate the current ban against using state tax money to aid religious institutions, win support of only 41 percent of respondents, while 47 percent oppose and 12 percent are undecided.

When South Floridians are asked if they ''support or oppose the use of public funds to financially help poarents whose children attend private schools,'' they overwhelmingly reject the concept, 61-30 percent, with 9 percent undecided.

But when they are asked about Amendment 9, which would reinstate private school vouchers and require that all school districts spend 65 percent of their budgets in the classroom, the pollster used the same vague language as the amendment -- and respondents supported it 64-34 percent, with 12 percent undecided.

''People were reacting to the first part of the question -- the 65 percent -- not the second part,'' said Fritz Wenzel, Zogby's director of communications. ``People nationwide have had that beef against public school districts that too much is spent outside the classroom.''

All three South Florida school districts say, however, that their classroom levels already exceed 65 percent and the Florida Education Association has filed suit to throw out Amendment 9, calling it deceptive.

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