Ironically, the day after I wrote "Held Hostage by Property Taxes?" I received a newsletter from the Broward County Property Appraiser's office.  They had an article entitled "Are you Locked into Your House Because of the 'Save our Homes' Tax Cap?"

In the article, Property Appraiser Lori Parrish supports the idea of making the SOH shelter "portable."  Depending on the implementation, it would go something like this.  If you bought another home with an assessed market value equal to your current home, the effect on your taxes would might go as such: 

Market value of current home: $300,000

SOH "capped" value:           $125,000

Portable differential:        $175,000

New house market value:       $300,000

New SOH "capped" value:  $300,000-$175,000 = $125,000

So rather than having your new taxes calculated on its current value of $300,000, more than double your current taxed value - which is what happens now - your taxes would remain fairly steady.  If you bought a larger home with a higher assessed market value, your taxes would go up, but based only on the difference in market value, like this:

Market value of current home: $300,000

SOH "capped" value:           $125,000

Portable differential         $175,000

New house market value        $425,000

New SOH "capped" value:  425,000-175,000 = $250,000

Rather than having your taxes calculated on $425,000 - almost 3½ times your current taxed value - which is what happens now - your taxes will only be based on the capped value of $250,000. 

It sounds like a great idea, right?  I like it.  I'll let experts crunch the numbers to see if it's feasible, but on the surface, it sounds pretty fair to me.  It leaves intact the current system that protects the Homestead property of Florida homeowners and it will make moving to a new home a possibility for many people who are currently locked into their current homes by taxes.  Is there anything wrong with this plan?  Well, I can't fully endorse it until I see how the numbers work out.  If portability is established, then the counties will not gain as much revenue when properties change hands to qualified "Homesteaded" buyers.  This means the burden of making up for the loss will fall on property owners who do not qualify for Homestead and the SOH cap.  These properties are the second homes of Florida residents and part-time out-of-state residents, and they are commercial properties.  What will the effect be on these properties?  What kind of additional tax burden will we be placing on local small business owners?  How will it affect the retired couple on a fixed income who own a humble condo in Florida where they live for the winter?  Their taxes are already uncapped and so have gone up as dramatically as the price of real estate has.  When I see these figures, I can make a judgment on whether to get behind such a portability program.  For me personally, I would love it.  But is it right for the community or the state in whole?  Of that, I'm not yet sure.  But I certainly hope so.

Comments welcome.