West Palm Beach Real Estate Info by Nick the Appraiser

Florida Property Tax reforms,.. or not

As of September 25, 2007 the proposed property tax ammendmenthas been removed from the January 29th (2008) ballot by a Leon County circuit court judge. It’s been argued that the verabge is misleading and the possible new law could actually harm homeowners who move and cannot elect to have their primary residence’s tax rate ‘capped’ by the Save our Homes Act.

An appeal is obviously in the works, but it is unclear how long that could take. There is a 90 day waiting period before any amendments can make the (Jan 29th) ballot. This can postpone a general vote until November 2008. Marc Rubio (R-from Miami) is still adamant about this fight, stating “One way or another, we will give Florida taxpayers the relief they need”.

Marc Rubio has previously recommended that a property taxes be eliminated all together (for primary residences) and that the state sales tax be raised by 2.5% to a whopping 8.5%, the highest in the nation. We’ll see what the future holds for Florida’s residents.. property tax help and insurance help. This combination is vital as a catalyst to stimulate this market, as prices have already come down they would push buyers off the fence.. unless they are willing to lose the shirts of their backs in certain income and price ranges.

On the real estate forefront, the lack of property tax reforms raises the question of what will it take to kick this sluggish market back into gear? I see it in the eye of my clients as they ponder the monthly cost of taxes and insurance in addition to higher purchase prices (when compared to the past few years).

Especially when the future neighbor, who has lived there for 4 years, is paying about half of their proposed tax amounts. In the end, consumers are forced to make a decision to either overextend themselves, purchase smaller homes or wait on the sidelines for any tax reforms or breaks.