Florida homeowner tax bill

[muppets3d]

Although I don't necessarily disagree that this is unlikely to happen, we have to remember when reading internet posts here (and anywhere online) that basically everyone who doesn't own a homestead in Florida is going to be biased against this - especially if there is concern that tourism costs will be impacted.

And if I lived in FL and had a homestead exemption I'd be thinking it's the best idea a politician has had since the president of McDonald's decided to bring back the McRib.

 

[VGCgroupie]

And if I lived in FL and had a homestead exemption I'd be thinking it's the best idea a politician has had since the president of McDonald's decided to bring back the McRib.

Agree. I am tourist of FL I obviously dont want to pay more but a state should do whats best for its residents not whats best for tourists. If I knew this property tax elimination would pass and stick around after Desantis I would consider moving there just because of it. Im over paying property taxes especially when I do not use the school system but I have to give thousands to it.

 

[atthebeachclub]

Lots if good info here; thanks to those of you with tax backgrounds especially. I don’t mind paying taxes, especially where I live; it’s part of the social contract. I just am curious how this might affect my small slice of property in Florida.

 

[RivShore]

A favorite past time of politicians .

Past time, current time and forward time...

 

[RivShore]

For the last few years, Florida's budget was artificially inflated by billions in federal pandemic aid (ARP funds).
Federal law requires all that money to be fully spent by December 31, 2026. Florida has used these one-time funds for recurring expenses and massive infrastructure projects.

As far as I know, this is not unique to Florida, nearly every state has been living high on the Covid hog and all will soon have to deal with the end of that golden pot of money.

 

[atthebeachclub]

This end of Covid money that’s been used for recurring costs sounds like a potential state budget disaster that will affect those who visit or live in Florida in some way.

 

[RivShore]

Not to divert this thread into tax policy (but some of us do somehow enjoy doing that ) but I think the only fair way to tax a home if it is based on original purchase price plus any major improvements, completely ignoring market price. This would mean that the person who has been in their house for decades and now has no kids in school would pay the least, while the newcomers, probably younger with school age kids, would pay the most. It would incentive homeowners to put real roots into the community and move the burden to people who can better afford it.
Perfect example of this is some beach towns in NJ, 60 years ago, average blue collar workers bought tiny cape houses across the street from the ocean, for (no exaggeration) $5-20k. Today that home is worth $2M+, how can that retired blue collar couple ever be expected to keep up with the taxes on those gains?
These homestead exemption increases seem to be moving toward my ideal but someone has to explain what happens to the revenue holes it creates for towns and counties (who I'm sure will spend more on ads fighting this than the revenue they will lose ).

 

[J-Dog]

Not to divert this thread into tax policy (but some of us do somehow enjoy doing that ) but I think the only fair way to tax a home if it is based on original purchase price plus any major improvements, completely ignoring market price. This would mean that the person who has been in their house for decades and now has no kids in school would pay the least, while the newcomers, probably younger with school age kids, would pay the most. It would incentive homeowners to put real roots into the community and move the burden to people who can better afford it.
Perfect example of this is some beach towns in NJ, 60 years ago, average blue collar workers bought tiny cape houses across the street from the ocean, for (no exaggeration) $5-20k. Today that home is worth $2M+, how can that retired blue collar couple ever be expected to keep up with the taxes on those gains?
These homestead exemption increases seem to be moving toward my ideal but someone has to explain what happens to the revenue holes it creates for towns and counties (who I'm sure will spend more on ads fighting this than the revenue they will lose ).

This is the case also in my hometown in WA state. In the '90's it became a trendy vacation area for rich Seattle-ites. Very quickly the previous agricultural-based community dried up and left as property taxes became untenable for them, but were easily afforded as second homes for people with high-paying tech jobs. It was very sad.

Now, that I live in FL and my very non-mansion-size house is 14K/year in property taxes. I would not be sad to see that decreased in some way.