Archives

February 2007

Salvation Army Store in Front of Westbrook Estates/Lexington Oaks

Posted at 3:05 AM, Feb. 22, 2007

As many have heard, there will be a new Salvation Army store in front of Westbrook Estates, across from the entrance to Lexington Oaks. There is now a campaign to try to stop it. The concern of course is that some of the people from their programs will work there and bring the crime levels up. There is also a concern that there will be junk left out front when it is dropped off. And finally, many are saying that the Salvation Army store will cause our home values to go down. The campaigns to stop organizations from opening rarely work since they are fitting in with the zoning laws. Where there is some success, it is usually to get some concesssions from the organization to make strict rules. If there are enough people against the store from opening, the Salvation Army could always decide not to open, but this rarely happens. The Salvation Army has said that they will not hire anyone from their program, with one caveat and that is once they complete the program, then they would consider hiring them.

So let's hear from you. Are you concerened about the Salvation Army store opening in front of Westbrook Estates? If you are concerned, what do you believe can be done, and if you are not concerened, why not? Finally, do you believe that the Salvation Army store would affect home values in Westbrook Estate or Lexington Oaks?

For more information you can send an email to nosalvationarmy4wc@yahoo.com

If you believe your home is an important investment, if you believe in maintaining a quality of life with peace, security, and the dream of a nice quiet community, I encourage you to take five minutes of your time and write a letter to

John Gallagher, Pasco County Administrator

West Pasco Government Center

7530 Little Road, Suite 340

New port Richey , FL 34654

Or e-mail him at Jgallagher@pascocountyfl.net telling him of your opposition. Then send a copy of that letter Pat Mulieri at commissioners@pascocountyfl.net. The case number is DRO 07-782; you must refer to this number when corresponding.

You can also contact the Salvation Army with your concerns. The contact information is;

Salvation Army:

Major Don Smith

The Salvation Army Tampa ARC

(C) 813 477-4439

Donald_Smith@uss.salvationarmy.org

Florida attorney general warns consumers about mortgage fraud scams

Posted at 3:07 AM, Feb. 13, 2007

Mortgage fraud scams were among the top ten complaints filed with the Florida Attorney General last year. To read more information and tips to avoid mortgage fraud scam click here.

Governor Crist Proposes Property Tax Cut

Posted at 4:18 AM, Feb. 1, 2007

Governor Charlie Crist on Tuesday proposed a constitutional amendment that would cut property taxes as much as $4.7 billion a year.

For homeowners the savings would result from allowing counties to double the homestead exemption from $25,000 to $50,000. Homeowners would also be allowed to take their Save Our Homes property tax savings with them when they move anywhere inside of Florida. This would be a great boon to real estate sales.

For those who do not know about Save Our Homes, this is an amendment that passed several years ago and caps the value of a primary residence for property taxes to 3% per year or the Consumer Price Index (CPI), whichever is less. This is especially helpful when the property values were going up 20% or 30% per year. Those that live in one house for many years have an artificially low property tax bill. However when the property is sold the new owner pays property taxes based on the appraised value often paying thousands more than the previous owner. However, the original seller would purchase a new home and would have to pay taxes not at their old tax rate, but instead at the full-appraised value. This prevented many people from moving. For example, take a family that has a home that is 3,500 square feet. They live there many years. Their children finish high school, go to college and then move out of the home. Now instead of having four people in the home there are now only two. This couple may now be ready to downsize, however by moving they lose their Save Our Homes tax savings. They may want a home that is 2,000 square feet, but by moving, they may pay thousands more in property taxes than if they stay in their too large home. By making the tax savings portable, it will allow people to downsize or upsize their home, or just move to another area. This should help families and really boost the real estate market.

Also proposed is a provision allowing owners of rental properties, commercial properties, and non-homestead properties to have the same 3% cap on property taxes. These three groups never received the Save Our Home benefits. Providing the same benefits to these groups should help boost activity in these areas. By providing this to non-homestead properties, sales of homes to snowbirds that live in Florida for part of the year should increase.

Let us hope that this tax relief will be approved.