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JA!
I wonder how our property taxes are calculated?
Maudib? ...anyone?
A solution applicable to Jamaica?
Seems reasonable!
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Numbers add up for simple property tax solution
Michael Mayo | News Columnist October 14, 2007
Maybe we're making this property tax situation more complicated than it needs to be.
Sure, it's enough to make your head spin, trying to figure out how to fix a two-tiered system that's unfair, one that lets longtime Florida homeowners off cheaply while socking it to recent homebuyers, snowbirds and owners of commercial and rental properties.
Then there's all the backbiting. Local governments gripe about runaway costs and expensive mandates imposed by the state. State legislators blame cities and counties for spending like drunken sailors. They're both right.
Meantime, Joe and Jane Homeowner (pronounced Home-Moaner) keep feeling the squeeze, teetering on the edge of financial ruin. What are we to do?
That was the key question hovering over Thursday's visit by the Florida Taxation and Budget Reform Commission.
It's the question that brought Lisa Wolkowitz of Hollywood up to the podium, notes trembling in her hands.
"I've never done this before," she said afterward.
Her main point: People who bought at the height of the real estate frenzy are getting hit hardest, and the latest proposed fixes from Tallahassee will do little for them. In fact, she noted, things such as doubling the homestead exemption and allowing for "portability" of Save Our Homes benefits will only worsen and prolong the imbalances by perpetuating a two-tiered system.
Wolkowitz bought a $400,000 home in 2003. Even with Save Our Homes protection and the $25,000 homestead exemption, her property tax bill is more than $8,000. Meanwhile, others on the same block pay $3,000.
"I just think it should be more equitable," she said.
But longtime owners don't want to give up Save Our Homes assessment caps. And non-homesteaded owners would love to have similar assessment caps.
"Save Our Homes has worked well," said Roger Handevidt, an innkeeper from Fort Lauderdale. "Now all we need is Save Our Businesses to help us."
The 29-person committee hasn't come up with answers yet, but it's in position to do something big and bold. Convening only once every 20 years, it can put constitutional amendments directly on the ballot for voter approval and make formal recommendations to the Legislature.
So what should it do?
My pitch to the commission would have gone like this:
"Good evening, and thanks for being altruistic and masochistic enough to play a one-year game of Rubik's Cube.
"But maybe this isn't as hard as we think. According to the Florida Department of Revenue, there were 10.92 million parcels of real estate statewide in 2006, valued at $2.4 trillion. Nearly $30.4 billion in property tax was collected by cities, counties, schools, hospitals and water districts.
"If everyone simply paid 1 percent of assessed value, that would be $24 billion right off the bat. In other words, someone who has a condo valued at $150,000 pays $1,500, someone with a $300,000 home pays $3,000, etc.
"No more homestead exemptions, and reassess everyone so there's no more artificially low Save Our Home values. The only exception: low-income seniors. They shouldn't have to pay more than they do now, and if they downsize, give them a 50 percent exemption on the new property.
"This means we'd only have to make up $6 billion, plus a few billion for the senior exemptions, to get to current levels. Piece of cake.
"Let's strike some of the $25 billion in quirky sales tax exemptions, you know, things like stadium skyboxes and charter boat rentals. Then boost the property tax rate on commercial property to 1.5 percent of assessed value. If we're still short, make homes with values more than $1 million pay 1.5 percent, too.
"Then cap annual assessment increases at 3 percent for full-time residents, 5 percent for everyone else. And that's it.
"Martini, anyone?"
Michael Mayo's column runs Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. Read him online every weekday at www.sun-sentinel.com/mayoblog. Reach him at mmayosun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4508.
I wonder how our property taxes are calculated?
Maudib? ...anyone?
A solution applicable to Jamaica?
Seems reasonable!
-----------------
Numbers add up for simple property tax solution
Michael Mayo | News Columnist October 14, 2007
Maybe we're making this property tax situation more complicated than it needs to be.
Sure, it's enough to make your head spin, trying to figure out how to fix a two-tiered system that's unfair, one that lets longtime Florida homeowners off cheaply while socking it to recent homebuyers, snowbirds and owners of commercial and rental properties.
Then there's all the backbiting. Local governments gripe about runaway costs and expensive mandates imposed by the state. State legislators blame cities and counties for spending like drunken sailors. They're both right.
Meantime, Joe and Jane Homeowner (pronounced Home-Moaner) keep feeling the squeeze, teetering on the edge of financial ruin. What are we to do?
That was the key question hovering over Thursday's visit by the Florida Taxation and Budget Reform Commission.
It's the question that brought Lisa Wolkowitz of Hollywood up to the podium, notes trembling in her hands.
"I've never done this before," she said afterward.
Her main point: People who bought at the height of the real estate frenzy are getting hit hardest, and the latest proposed fixes from Tallahassee will do little for them. In fact, she noted, things such as doubling the homestead exemption and allowing for "portability" of Save Our Homes benefits will only worsen and prolong the imbalances by perpetuating a two-tiered system.
Wolkowitz bought a $400,000 home in 2003. Even with Save Our Homes protection and the $25,000 homestead exemption, her property tax bill is more than $8,000. Meanwhile, others on the same block pay $3,000.
"I just think it should be more equitable," she said.
But longtime owners don't want to give up Save Our Homes assessment caps. And non-homesteaded owners would love to have similar assessment caps.
"Save Our Homes has worked well," said Roger Handevidt, an innkeeper from Fort Lauderdale. "Now all we need is Save Our Businesses to help us."
The 29-person committee hasn't come up with answers yet, but it's in position to do something big and bold. Convening only once every 20 years, it can put constitutional amendments directly on the ballot for voter approval and make formal recommendations to the Legislature.
So what should it do?
My pitch to the commission would have gone like this:
"Good evening, and thanks for being altruistic and masochistic enough to play a one-year game of Rubik's Cube.
"But maybe this isn't as hard as we think. According to the Florida Department of Revenue, there were 10.92 million parcels of real estate statewide in 2006, valued at $2.4 trillion. Nearly $30.4 billion in property tax was collected by cities, counties, schools, hospitals and water districts.
"If everyone simply paid 1 percent of assessed value, that would be $24 billion right off the bat. In other words, someone who has a condo valued at $150,000 pays $1,500, someone with a $300,000 home pays $3,000, etc.
"No more homestead exemptions, and reassess everyone so there's no more artificially low Save Our Home values. The only exception: low-income seniors. They shouldn't have to pay more than they do now, and if they downsize, give them a 50 percent exemption on the new property.
"This means we'd only have to make up $6 billion, plus a few billion for the senior exemptions, to get to current levels. Piece of cake.
"Let's strike some of the $25 billion in quirky sales tax exemptions, you know, things like stadium skyboxes and charter boat rentals. Then boost the property tax rate on commercial property to 1.5 percent of assessed value. If we're still short, make homes with values more than $1 million pay 1.5 percent, too.
"Then cap annual assessment increases at 3 percent for full-time residents, 5 percent for everyone else. And that's it.
"Martini, anyone?"
Michael Mayo's column runs Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. Read him online every weekday at www.sun-sentinel.com/mayoblog. Reach him at mmayosun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4508.