Latest News on Property Taxes

Well, it looks like the tax relief issue is going to be a 2-step dance.

Legislators are saying that they are looking at immediate relief in terms of reducing – Voters would get a chance to approve property tax relief and restructuring proposals during the Jan. 29 presidential primary election, legislative leaders agreed Monday.Rep. Dean Cannon, who chairs a joint select committee on property taxation, announced the agreement during the panel’s last scheduled meeting before a special legislative session set for June 12-22. Cannon, though, said another meeting may be held the day before the special session.The election date agreement between House Speaker Marco Rubio, R-West Miami, and Senate President Ken Pruitt, R-Port St. Lucie, follows their approval last week of a basic outline for the pending property tax reduction and overhaul.“There is already a statewide election on that date,” Cannon, R-Winter Park, said. “There will be no additional cost to the people of Florida to have the election.” The long-term constitutional approach to which Rubio and Pruitt have agreed would do away with the existing $25,000 homestead exemption for primary homes and, for most homeowners, the benefits they get from the Save Our Homes Amendment, which limits increases in homestead assessments to 3 percent annually. The proposed super-exemption basically institues a tiered approach or sliding scale that would apply tax rates to portions of the value of the home and that portion grows as the value of the home increases which appeals to those in more modest homes because more of their home is exempt than in a more expensive home.

So, that still leaves buyers (and sellers) in a position of not really knowing what their taxes will look like this year, next year, or whenever. it does, however, give some hope that at least the taxes will be less - but how much less is still up in the air.