[reptileszz]

Hi, thank you all for your replies. The person in question doesnt live in FL so cant have the homestead exemption. When we looked up tax info in Sarasota the mill rate was a tiny portion of what you really pay. There was a huge laundry list of fees sitting on top of that mill rated figure. We ran screaming from Sarasota. The area of Manatee county we looked at had the mill rate figure plus like $130 for fire. When I look up homes on the MLS the taxes they display over by Melbourne are about a third of what they display for Sarasota/Bradenton. Its fairly consistant. Yet I still cant really figure this out. I guess we will have to go schedule another trip down there to see what is what. Its all very daunting. How on earth does anyone afford to live there at this rate? 25% off for homestead is a drop in the bucket at these prices...

Thanks,
Carole

[Lilybeans]

Originally Posted by reptileszz

Hi, thank you all for your replies. The person in question doesnt live in FL so cant have the homestead exemption. When we looked up tax info in Sarasota the mill rate was a tiny portion of what you really pay. There was a huge laundry list of fees sitting on top of that mill rated figure. We ran screaming from Sarasota. The area of Manatee county we looked at had the mill rate figure plus like $130 for fire. When I look up homes on the MLS the taxes they display over by Melbourne are about a third of what they display for Sarasota/Bradenton. Its fairly consistant. Yet I still cant really figure this out. I guess we will have to go schedule another trip down there to see what is what. Its all very daunting. How on earth does anyone afford to live there at this rate? 25% off for homestead is a drop in the bucket at these prices...

Thanks,
Carole

You've hit on a huge problem. In many cases, the taxes are about equal tot he mortgage payments. It's like a double payment, and has helped contribute to the foreclosure crisis.

It's also not really fair, but it is hard to change. Personally, my taxes are ridiculously low, because we lived in the same place for a long time. On the other hand, why should our taxes go up just because we decided to stay in a smaller place that we could afford. It's a difficult issue. On top of that, everyone wants more and more services, and no government ever cut back on their spending.