"Travis Jordan" wrote:

I'm not sure that the proposed amendment to raise the homestead
exemption by 25K per home is a good idea. I'd encourage you to look
into this a little bit before you vote for it - in order to maintain
revenue taxes will simply shift to those with "higher priced" homes - by
my estimate around 300K seems to be the valuation above which you could
expect to pay higher taxes. Since Amendment 10 applies to market
valuation, not to tax rates there isn't any law to prevent the
municipalities from simply raising rates to make up for the lost income.
Which of course they will do. I don't see that information anywhere in
the hoo-hah publicity touting the increased homestead exemption. In
fact, the web site for the proponents says that taxing authorities
already have a 'windfall' from increasing property values so they don't
need any more money. Of course, how silly of me.

I understand that concern, but I'm not sure that it applies. The raising of
property tax rates would most directly affect _new_ home buyers of houses
valued at $300K or more, and thus cool the real estate market to a point that
would be unacceptable, especially now that it appears interest rates may rise.
Just like in "Sim City" higher tax rates equate to slower growth (a gross
oversimplification, but generally true).

However, the current cap on increases is _not_ affected, and since the yearly
tax increases for current property owners already come at or close to the legal
limit, from what I've experienced, the new amendment would still have a
positive effect for long-term home owners unless the tax rates went totally
wild. In essence, I would pay less property tax, and new purchasers of more
expensive properties would pay more property tax. While I don't have a serious
problem with the ethics of that, I don't think that it will play out that way -
either in general statewide, or on a local level - where our town has been
fiscally responsible.

The proposed amendment will more likely result in county add-ons to the sales
tax, and increased property taxes upon commercial property, including
apartments. Broward is currently about the only county without an added county
sales tax, so that first part is almost a given where I live. Since businesses
have increasingly been allowed tax concessions to locate in a town, I don't
take issue with their taxes going up.

The un-needed "windfall" propaganda is just propaganda that can be dismissed
out of hand, but I do feel that a realistic homestead exemption is in the best
interest of fixed income seniors and those who struggle to keep their property,
and that the adjustment is only fair. Inflation, which is what this is really
about, is a hidden tax that politicians don't have to answer for.

Whereas the save-our-homes amendment now has an increasing effect of slowing
the musical chairs style of real estate sales here, and improving the feel of
community, I see the new amendment less as a quality of life issue and more as
a redistribution of the tax burden that more accurately reflects current day
valuations. I certainly respect that not everyone feels this way.