Clearwater FL Property Tax Amendment

Newly Proposed Constitutional Property Tax Amendment

Tallahassee FL, November 2007 - Senator Mike Fasano and his colleagues have returned to Tallahassee to prepare for the voters a newly proposed constitutional amendment pertaining to property taxes. This past September a circuit judge in Leon County tossed out the Florida Legislature’s previous joint resolution proposing an amendment to the Florida Constitution revising the manner in which property taxes are assessed in Florida. With this action undoing the work of a special legislative session held in June, the Florida Legislature was given a deadline of October 30, 2007 to revise the proposed amendment if consideration of that amendment is to be made available to voters for the January 29, 2008 presidential primary. The Legislature has now wrapped up its latest special session by offering a newly written constitutional amendment.

The Save Our Homes program was created to protect the taxes on homesteaded property from increasing dramatically as the home increased in value. Save Our Homes limits the tax burden to a 3% increase per year. The longer a person lives in their home the greater the benefi t Save Our Homes provides. The newly proposed constitutional amendment will allow for portability of the Save Our Homes benefi t if a resident chooses to move into a new home. Under current law the Save Our Homes benefit is lost when one moves. If the amendment is adopted the entire benefi t of Save Our Homes will be transferred if a resident purchases a home of greater value then their existing home. If a home of lesser value is purchased then a proportional share of the tax benefi t is transferred.The newly proposed constitutional amendment also proposes a doubling of the homestead exemption.

Currently, the first $25,000 of a home’s value is exempted from property taxes. If the amendment passes the exemption will doubled to $50,000 for homes valued above $50,000. School tax levies are not impacted by this exemption. The proposal also includes an exemption of $25,000 for tangible personal property used in businesses, mobile home attachments on rented land and furniture and appliances used in rental properties. If adopted this will free over !,000,000 Floridians from fi ling this burdensome tax.While Save Our Homes limits the assessments on homestead property, there currently is not a cap on assessment for non-homestead property. The proposal puts forth an annual cap of 10% on the assessed
value of such property. The accumulated assessment limitation will end at the time  the property changes ownership. The benefi ciaries of this proposal will be small business owners, those who own second homes and renters who must pay the cost of increased taxes through increased rental fees. “Floridians will be given the chance to vote on these issues in January,” Senator Fasano states. “The Florida Legislature has created a comprehensive package of tax relief that will be meaningful to a broad spectrum of Floridians.”
Greg Giordano Chief Legislative Assistant to State Senator Mike Fasano
8217 Massachusetts Avenue              310 Senate Offi ce Building
New Port Richey, FL 34653                  Tallahassee, FL 32399
(727) 848-5885                                       (850) 487-5062

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