Alex wrote:
Hi all,

I purchased my home in March 2003 (last year), and I had a rude
awakening this year when I got my 2004 tax statement from the local
Appraisal District.

When I purchased the house, the tax district appraised it (plus
property) at around $95,000 in 2003, but with the previous owner's
homestead exemption the homestead cap was $80,000. This saved me
about $500 in 2003 for taxes since taxes were based on $80,000 instead
of $95,000.

Now 2004 rolls around and I get my tax statement... and the homestead
cap was gone! I called the appraisal district and they said since I
moved in and refilled the homestead exemption under my name, that
reset the homestead cap to current appraised value, which is $100,000
(appraised value went up $5,000 this year). So... I'm taxed on the
full $100,000. OUCH!

I wasn't familiar with the homestead exemption, and the lady at my
county appraisal district was nice enough to tell me how it works.
She said the homestead exemption creates a homestead cap, which is
what your taxes are based on. This cap can't go up more then 10% in
any given year. So if in 2004 your house is appraised at $100,000 and
in 2005 they reappraise it at $120,000, your cap is $110,000 and
that's what your taxes are based on. In this scenario you basically
get a $10,000 cut on your appraised value for taxes.

This is what happened to my taxes in 2003... I was riding on the prior
owner's homestead cap, but in 2004 it reset for me.

So... is this something that happens to everyone? If the prior owner
lives in a house for 15 years, you buy it, and the taxes double or
more... is this common? Luckily mine only went up from $1400/year to
$1900/year, or about $40/month... but I've heard of others having
their house note double in year two due to this.

I could contest the appraised value, but it's still under what I paid
for the house, plus under what many houses go for in my area... so I
figured I didn't have much of a leg to stand on.

Anyone else ever been in this situation? Just curious.

Take care,

Alex.

The property tax 'cap' situation varies from state to state. In 1992,
Florida voters approved an amendment to the Florida constitution (the
Save our Homes Act that limited the amount of value a homestead property
could increase on the tax rolls each year. The law limits value
increases to three percent or a figure equal to the Consumer price
Index - whichever is less. The value is reset when the home loses the
homestead exemption or whenever it is sold.