[grldollies]

We just got our property tax notice and were alarmed at the "Market Value" increase related to the taxes. The house I live in the taxes were raised only 3% due to the SOH & the $25K prop. Exemption. But acreage in the Geneva area we hope to build a new house was increased 48% from last years taxes and it went up 62% (market value) above what we paid for it a year ago. Several neighbors by my property said they had it happen to them too. I expected it to go up some - I paid about .0975% more then the "Market Value" showed on the tax summery. Any more then a 20% increase is highway robbery! 40% - 50% is insane. A new property appraiser was voted in 2 years ago. (The old one was it for 16 years at least) I guess he really wanted raise some revenue for the county! I called the property appraisers office and they said that because one property several streets over sold a lot higher then we paid & it warranted an adjustment to the area. He said we could file an appeal. I wonder how well that will work? I spoke to him for a half an hour and he still insists my swamp land is twice as valuable as last year and I could not make him see any reason on the matter - how can I reasonably expect a whole board of them to see it is not fair or reasonable raise the property tax almost double in one year! I plan to go to the 7pm Seminole County public hearing tomorrow 9/13/06 in the BCC Chambers. 1101 E. 1st St. Sanford Fl. I saw on the local news - Several other Central Fl Counties have an organized tax revolt movement going on. Is there a Seminole County one started yet? How many other Seminole Co property owners are as upset as I am?

[Muggy]

I just stumbled across this myself: 800% !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pb...609120608/1060

[macguy]

Originally Posted by grldollies

We just got our property tax notice and were alarmed at the "Market Value" increase related to the taxes. The house I live in the taxes were raised only 3% due to the SOH & the $25K prop. Exemption. But acreage in the Geneva area we hope to build a new house was increased 48% from last years taxes and it went up 62% (market value) above what we paid for it a year ago. Several neighbors by my property said they had it happen to them too. I expected it to go up some - I paid about .0975% more then the "Market Value" showed on the tax summery. Any more then a 20% increase is highway robbery! 40% - 50% is insane. A new property appraiser was voted in 2 years ago. (The old one was it for 16 years at least) I guess he really wanted raise some revenue for the county! I called the property appraisers office and they said that because one property several streets over sold a lot higher then we paid & it warranted an adjustment to the area. He said we could file an appeal. I wonder how well that will work? I spoke to him for a half an hour and he still insists my swamp land is twice as valuable as last year and I could not make him see any reason on the matter - how can I reasonably expect a whole board of them to see it is not fair or reasonable raise the property tax almost double in one year! I plan to go to the 7pm Seminole County public hearing tomorrow 9/13/06 in the BCC Chambers. 1101 E. 1st St. Sanford Fl. I saw on the local news - Several other Central Fl Counties have an organized tax revolt movement going on. Is there a Seminole County one started yet? How many other Seminole Co property owners are as upset as I am?

It is too bad, it has made it hard to own more then one property due to the taxes on properties that are not Homesteaded. The taxes adjust with the market, that's the problem with land, there is nothing you can do with it to off set the costs.

A house you can at least rent but land just sits there and at a point begins to cost you money . Except for land I actually plan on building on, I am selling most of my land. It is probably not going up any more any time soon, it cost me taxes, not to mention you can do something more positive with the money it is now worth.

Say it's worth $400,000 and maybe going down a little now, that money invested elsewhere now could bring you maybe $25,000 to $30,000 a year instead of nothing. That plus taxes can be considered the cost of holding on to it now and it adds up quick. It may be time to dump it unless you have plans for the near future.

[sami]

Florida does something some other states do not......when a house jumps in value, they use a system that makes sure that property taxes jump a lot too---especially since some houses do not have homestead exemption and save our homes..... In other states like New Jersey, the values go up, but they refigure the tax rates so that properties go up but not as much as fast........NJ can clip you, but nothing like here in Florida for those without exemptions..... This is ONE state that you do not want to own rental property in, especially if you are a small (investor) fish......

[sami]

Sad to say, this is the flip side to such fast appreciation.........

[pslOldTimer]

Originally Posted by sami

Florida does something some other states do not......when a house jumps in value, they use a system that makes sure that property taxes jump a lot too---especially since some houses do not have homestead exemption and save our homes..... In other states like New Jersey, the values go up, but they refigure the tax rates so that properties go up but not as much as fast...

Well, that's sort of right. The diffrence is the system was not designed to make sure some values jump, it was actually designed to stop established residents values from going up as much as they should.

You see, all assessed values are based on something the government can't control, which is market value. If the price of homes goes up, assessments will be sure to follow. That's the way it is everywhere that charges property taxes. So, if assessments jumped fast, that's because prices jumped fast.

Traditionally, real estate keeps up with inflation. Sometimes it's a little ahead and sometimes it's behind, but over time, real estate will go up prettymuch at the rate of inflation. So, if things like fuel and cement go up, real estate tends to go up, also. What this means is that when costs go up to run the government, values go up, assessments go up, taxes go up, and the government still has enough money to repair bridges or put cops on the street.

Now, in Florida, a group of people proposed a constitutional amendment that precented tax collectors from collecting as much taxes as they should on everyone's homes. They called it "Save Our Homes", which was a catchy name, and they persuaded a lot of people to vote for it who didn't really understand it.

Now, what happens is that costs go up, it costs more to put gas in a police car or a public works truck, the government needs more money to provide the same level of service, but the Save Our Homes law prevents the taxes to go up on a homesteaded house by more than 3%, regardless of how much the costs go up.

So, government has to find the money, somewhere. This causes the tax rates to go up, which means that property owners without homestead really, really get screwed.

Plus, everyone who buys a different house, or has some remodeling done on their existing house, faces a huge jump in their taxes, because a sale, or a change in the house, eliminates the Save Our House cap. Because the value of the homesteaded house has been held artificially low, maybe for years, the taxes take a huge jump when there is a sale or remodeling.

Some older folks who live in houses that are too large for them can no longer sell and get a smaller house. Their taxes on their existing, large house are artificially low, and the taxes on the new house will be much greater, even though the house is smaller. So, they're stuck with the large house and have to pay the extra cost to maintain it, because it's still cheaper than the new tax rate would be.

If the Save Our Homes initiative had never been passed, assessments and tax rates would still rise, but at a more gradual rate, and charged fairly to everyone who uses the services.

You can easily have two families living next door to each other in nearly identical houses who have a huge difference in their taxes. Both may have been Florida residents for years, but family "A" has been in their house for years, and family "B" bought their house just last year, because their Mother-in-law had to move in with them and they needed a bigger house (I have direct experience with this). They use the exact same services and should be paying the same tax rate, but the Save Our Homes law is artificially repressing the rate for one of the families.

Think of what this law is doing to slow the sale of homes -- any house that is purchased will be reassessed, and the new owner will have to pay artificially high taxes because his neighbor is paying artificially low taxes. Facing those taxes, in addition to high insurance bills, is reason enough to consider not buying a house.

I could go on. Suffice it to say, I think this is one of the worst laws that has ever been passed in Florida, and it was basically passed because people are greedy and short-sighted.

[Need_affordable_home]

Well said!!!!!!!!!! We need appeals and amendments to Florida's property tax law! This is one big reason I cant afford even the cheapest house! Ironically, the property tax alone on a modest 3 bedroom house here costs more than the lot rent at a mobile park! Then factor in hurricane insurance, HOAs and maintainence and this is almost thrice lot rent at a mobile park and equal to the rent of a nice 2 bedroom apartment and the downpayment + morgage I save would appreciate fast in investment mutual funds.

If property taxes became reasonable, exemption increased from 25k to 50k, 75k or even 100k and either hurricane insurance start getting reasonable or hurricanes stop comming, houses will be alot more affordable, even if they rise a bit in price! I consider houses a liability for the most part, especially in Florida

[Dee2e]

Originally Posted by grldollies

We just got our property tax notice and were alarmed at the "Market Value" increase related to the taxes. The house I live in the taxes were raised only 3% due to the SOH & the $25K prop. Exemption. But acreage in the Geneva area we hope to build a new house was increased 48% from last years taxes and it went up 62% (market value) above what we paid for it a year ago. Several neighbors by my property said they had it happen to them too. I expected it to go up some - I paid about .0975% more then the "Market Value" showed on the tax summery. Any more then a 20% increase is highway robbery! 40% - 50% is insane. A new property appraiser was voted in 2 years ago. (The old one was it for 16 years at least) I guess he really wanted raise some revenue for the county! I called the property appraisers office and they said that because one property several streets over sold a lot higher then we paid & it warranted an adjustment to the area. He said we could file an appeal. I wonder how well that will work? I spoke to him for a half an hour and he still insists my swamp land is twice as valuable as last year and I could not make him see any reason on the matter - how can I reasonably expect a whole board of them to see it is not fair or reasonable raise the property tax almost double in one year! I plan to go to the 7pm Seminole County public hearing tomorrow 9/13/06 in the BCC Chambers. 1101 E. 1st St. Sanford Fl. I saw on the local news - Several other Central Fl Counties have an organized tax revolt movement going on. Is there a Seminole County one started yet? How many other Seminole Co property owners are as upset as I am?

I did not get my tax bill, just the notice of projections. Check your statement. Your proposal has three rates depending on the outcome of the public hearings. Citizens must attend the public hearings on this matter to voice their opinions.

[grldollies]

The "Market Value" was raised 62% on the Geneva acreage from the actual price I paid for it - I paid $75K. The "Market Value" was increased from 67K to $122K - My Projected taxes will be still be almost twice what it was last year no matter what rate they choose to go with. I checked the "Market Value" on the area around me and they did it across the board to everyone. Several parcels of vacant land sold less per acre then what I paid around me but that didn't matter to the county they market valued of them are as high as mine too! A few parcels sold several streets over higher per acre but most had mobile homes on it. This is a rural area - dirt roads. So to me the Prop Apr/County are just trying raise $ mostly because of SOH & the exemption! The homes w/ acreage by my property have lower taxes - some by 40% of my lower projected 2006 tax and they have a house on their land! I very much doubt they will go with the lower figure either - after 23 years here I've never seen it happen. The Fl Government is taking Advice & Ideas to change/revise the tax law - The Governor & a board will be compiling the data/ideas. I went to the Seminole Co. Prop. Apr. web site to see if I could voice my displeasure with the tax situation and they have a link to post an proposed solution or idea to several property tax issues our state is facing - Look for “Property Tax Reform” Link, It states: “On June 21, 2006, Governor Bush released Executive Order 06-141 creating the 15 member Property Tax Reform Committee. The ultimate purpose of the Committee is to make recommendations on how to improve property taxation in Florida. These recommendations to the Governor, the Legislature, and the Taxation and Budget Reform Commission are to be guided by concerns for equity, compliance, economic competitiveness, economic neutrality and fiscal balance. The Committee is directed to discuss the consequences of current property tax exemptions and assessment differentials, as well as the appropriateness, affordability and economic consequences of property taxation levels in Florida. The Committee is also charged with discussing and introducing alternative means of taxation, replacement alternatives to property taxation, and limitations upon local government revenue and expenditures. An initial report is due by December 15, 2006, followed by a mid-term report no later than March 1, 2007, then a final report no later than December 1, 2007.”
The next meeting will be held September 20, 2006 in Orlando, FL at the Orlando City Council Chambers, City Hall, 400 S. Orange Avenue from 10:00 a.m to 4:00 p.m.

[Dee2e]

My proposed tax bill in Seminole County has three optons. 1 option will not change my taxes at all, another will raise them $21.67, and the third will reduce them about $4.

I'm not complaining!