Property Tax Relief Agreement Reached

Posted at 7:22 PM, Jun. 9, 2007

  Property Tax Relief Agreement Reached

The House and Senate have come to an agreement to lower property tax by $31.6 billion over the next five years. 

Immediate (this year) tax relief in the amount of $15.6 billion (Statutory Changes) 

• All cities and counties must cut taxes for the 2007-2008 fiscal year back to 2006-2007 revenue levels.
• All local governments will also be required to cut an additional 3%, 5%, 7% or 9%, based on a formula of tax performance over the past five years, compared to state average.
• Future property tax revenues capped to the rate of personal income growth and new construction. 

$16 billion in further property tax relief (Constitutional Amendment) 

• An average savings  with both the statutory and constitutional changes for homesteaded property of $1,300 or a 44% reduction
• “Save our Homes” to be replaced with a super exemption that will give a bigger benefit in approximately 73% of the cases. Where it does not the homeowners present Save our Homes will be grandfathered.
• For homesteaded properties there will be an exemption of 75% of the first $200,000 in value of the home.  Therefore, on a $200,000 home the exemption would be $150,000 and the property tax would be based on a value of $50,000.
• On the next $300,000 of home value for homesteaded property, there will be an additional 15% exemption.                                                                                                                               

This should be a big boost to the real estate industry and to the overall economy.