Tampa, Florida
Community and real estate information for Westbrook Estates located in Wesley Chapel Florida
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Jun. 17, 2007
Categorized in: Government
Property Tax Relief Approved
Last week I wrote about how the House and Senate came to an agreement on Property Tax Relief.
Then over the weekend most of the Democrats and some Republicans decided they did not like the agreement anymore. This was after much lobbying over the weekend. Property Tax Relief looked dead.
Then just a couple days later Property Tax Relief passed. Politicians seem to change their minds daily.
There are two types of Property Tax Relief in this bill. The first (Statutory Changes) are a definite, while the second (Constitutional Amendment) has to be approved by a 60% majority in January of 2008. The following is an overview of each.
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.
On January 29, 2008 the Constitutional Amendment will be placed on the Presidential primary election.
Expect much lobbying on both sides of the issue.
Those against the property tax relief believe that it will result in cuts to essential services, such as law enforcement and fire services, along with fewer parks, libraries and many other cuts.
Those for property tax relief will argue that tax revenues have increased approximately 99% over the past five years, and the taxpayer should be able to get some relief. Yes some services may need to be cut, but with record revenues the local governments should be able to do with less.
What do you think?
Jun. 12, 2007
Categorized in: Government
Property Tax Relief Is On Its Way, Or Is It?
In my post of last week I went over the agreement the House and Senate came to in regard to property tax relief. Democrats and Republicans all were in agreement that this was a great package of tax cuts. Local governments even said they could live with it as it was not as bad as they had expected.
But what a difference a weekend can make.
Now Democrats and some Republicans are saying hold on a minute, maybe we cannot support this tax relief.
Local governments are now saying they are going to have cut essential programs, and various groups spent the weekend lobbying to keep cuts from hitting them.
The problem lies in the fact that over the past few years’ tax receipts have multiplied astronomically, and our governments have been eager to make everyone happy by spending all the money as fast as it came in.
Now we are hitting a crisis. As reported in the St. Petersburg Times we are starting to lose Florida residents to states such as Tennessee and Georgia, who have lower home prices, lower taxes and lower insurance bills.
Those thinking of moving to Florida are also deciding to move elsewhere. Why? Property taxes and homeowners insurance. As a Realtor, we often show buyers many homes, and when they see the home they love, they may see the taxes being paid are $3,000. But then we tell them that with Save Our Homes that is not the tax they will pay. They find out they will pay $7,000 or more and decide they will choose a cheaper location.
We of course have been promised lowered homeowners insurance and of course that is up in the air now too.
If we do not decrease the taxes and make them more fair, it seems likely we will end up with less tax money as our population decreases, and along with it our tax base.
Ultimately, the legislators and the public will have to weigh and balance the taxes we are willing to pay, and what spending we are willing to cut.
Hopefully, an agreement can still be reached.
Jun. 9, 2007
Categorized in: Government
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.
May. 5, 2007
Categorized in: Local News
Governor Charlie Crist had set as one of his priorities, Property Tax Relief. We were promised by him and members of the legislature that we would see it soon. Some were even saying if they did not pass anything during this session then they wasted their time. Well guess what? The session is over with no agreement.
The legislature suspended negotiations until a special 10-day session to be held June 12 - 22. They state they want to get it right, and this session they say will result in a deal. Let us pray!
Feb. 1, 2007
Categorized in: Real Estate
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.
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