Real Estate Taxes. Unpleasantly surprised.
 

We moved to Hadley last June and got our Real EstateTax bill this week. It was almost as high as our Northern home

I guess it is good or bad news depending on what you are used to..

welcome to Florida, now you know why there's no state income tax.

I got mine too, wasn't surprised though it was a lot higher than last year (taxed as undeveloped). Includes the annual bond payment if not paid off.

Great news as far as we were concerned. Total bill (bond, maint, fire & taxes) for our Hadley home is $1,000 less than our former CT property taxes. When we consider the property taxes for cars and state income taxes that we used to pay we are now looking at a savings of about 50% of what we would be paying in CT.

Due to the decline in housing prices, ours went down about 20% from last year.

Remember, pay early (not later than 12/03) and save 4% on the entireSumter County bill!

SWR
:beer3:

Homestead re tax & low-income tax exemptions
 

This real-estate tax exemption is definitely worthwhile addressing. You must qualify by proof of residing in TV longer than six months/year. ID is requested such as driver's license or a utility bill, or bank statement with the TV address, and of course proof of home ownership. With that, you qualify for a $50,000 exemption on your RE tax.

We live in Sumter Cty and applied for the exemption at the Cty Tax Collector's Office in the same building as the Sherriff's Office on Rte 466.

There is another $25,000 exemption if your income is less than $27,000/yr (not sure the exact dollar amt but close).

More about the Homestead exemption
 

Homestead Exemption

Florida residents are exempt from $50,000 of the assessed value of their homes. This means that their real estate taxes will be reduced. However, the amount of the reduction is not simply the millage rate times the $50,000 because not all taxes that make up the real estate taxes are included. The amount that is excluded is school taxes on the second $25,000. For example: Sumter county’s real estate tax rate was 13.8669 mills in 2009 or $13.8669 per thousand in the appraised value. But part of that rate includes a school tax rate of 7.3540 mills. Instead of a tax exemption of $693.35, which would be the benefit if the homestead exemption applied to all taxes, the actual exemption amount is $183.85 less to offset the school taxes. So the exemption actually is worth $509.50.

This is still a nice break, but is it the true value? Not really, because you would have to take into account the effect of the reduction of federal tax deductions if you itemized deductions. Depending on your tax bracket, your federal taxes will increase by an amount equal to your tax bracket times your homestead exemption. Therefore, if you were in the 25% federal tax bracket, the true value of your homestead exemption would be $382.13 or 25% less than its nominal value.

The reason I am pointing this out is to get you to think twice about Florida residency if your only reason is to get the homestead exemption. However, there is another very good reason to consider becoming a Florida resident according to the “Save Our Homes” legislation of which the homestead exemption is a part. Florida homeowners cannot have their real estate taxes rise by more than 3%, or the rate of inflation measured by the CPI, which ever is less. Non-resident homeowners can be faced with as much as a 10% increase. (There is current legislation proposed to drop that to 5%. I believe it is Amendment 3 scheduled for the 2010 ballot.) Still, if you believe that inflation will remain low for the next few years as the economy continues to battle the recession, there is less of a need to rush into Florida residency.

Another indirect consequence of the “Save Our Homes” act occurs when purchasing a previously owned home. If the owners had the 3% limitation on real estate tax increases in effect for a long time, their stated real estate tax would probably not reflect the rate you might get when the house is reappraised at its sale. Just be aware of this.

Another benefit of the legislation is that your real estate tax saving is portable as long as you purchase another residence in Florida. There are formulas that explain how the tax savings is transferred to the new property. It is important to note that the savings apply regardless of whether you purchase a higher priced or lower priced property.

Gracie... as JohnN pointed out, your tax bill is not all County property taxes. It includes close to $2,000 for the annual CDD maintenance assessment and your bond payment. Sumter County is simply the collecting agent for the CDD.

Yes, for me the tax rate is higher here but home values are lower than the DC area and I sure am happy about no state income tax. Like SPK7951, my overall tax obligations are significantly lower in Florida. However, it is my primary and only residence. Snowbirds/seasonal residents do get socked by paying in two locales.

Fl dept revenue property tax exemptions
 

http://dor.myflorida.com/dor/property/exemptions.html

Good site re FL RE tax exemptions.....b

My taxes are about $1000 cheaper than they were in CT and I love no annual property tax on cars and no state income tax. Like having the money in my pocket instead of the states.:thumbup:

The 3% applies to the assessed value and not real estate taxes.
http://dor.myflorida.com/dor/property/limitations.html

Ours is less that NH by about 3000 Nh has no income tax either.

the electric is about the same But the oil heat was the killer over 4000 a year.


The water bill is more down here. We can claim the sales tax deduction down here

NH has none

so I guess each case is different

We're originally from upstate NY - (Southern Tier) and we were paying $6,500 for taxes on a $235,000 home ten (10) years ago. Our Gardenia is roughly in the same price range and it's $3,600. We think it is a bargain! It's all a matter of perspective.

Well, we moved here from Upstate NY (Elmira) and our taxes are about 50% of what we paid there for a house valued less. The no income tax is a pretty good thing as well. What was our sales tax? I think it was something like 8.25%.

The wife and I were actually very shocked the bill was cheaper then we thought, even without the Homestead Exemp. We had figured it was going to cost a lot more.
We really can't compare it to what we pay here in Alabama as our property tax is way of of line with most of the US. We presently pay $381.00 a year, not a typo, 381.

Army Guy

For those of you who bought a new house this year, study your tax bill carefully. If the construction of your house was completed this year, you may only be taxed on the land value of your site rather than the full improved value. This results in a much lower tax bill (a nice little bonus) for year one, but, rest assured, next year it will be the full tax bill.

As I suspected the reaction to the tax bill would have much to do with the tax bills you previously had received up North.

Our bill from Ohio is larger than the one in TV but not by much. However, the bond is included on our tax bill in The Villages. We were directed by friends to NOT pay it off, because we would probably want a different house in TV after a while.

Our water bill in Ohio is MUCH more and so is our heat and air, but our house is bigger too.

Not complaining. Just surprised.

There's a form that you need to submit each year to get this tax exemption; the form is available at the Tax Collectors' office (if you're in Sumter Cty, it's at the back of the Sumter Sherriff's Office on Rte 466).

Additional Homestead Exemption for Persons 65 and Older

As provided in Section 196.075, F.S., in accordance with s. 6(f), Art. VII of the State Constitution, the board of county commissioners of any county or the governing authority of any municipality may adopt an ordinance to allow an additional homestead exemption of up to $25,000 for any person who has the legal or equitable title to real estate and maintains thereon the permanent residence of the owner, who has attained age 65, and whose household income does not exceed the current adjusted income limitation in the chart to the right.

This exemption applies only to tax millage levied by the county or city that enacts the exemption, and does not apply to millage of school districts or other taxing authorities.

View the counties and municipalities that have implemented this special tax benefit.

* The percentage changes shown are rounded to the nearest tenth of a percent. The income limitation amounts are based on the unrounded CPI data.
Senior Homestead Exemption
Year

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
% Change*

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Adjusted
Income
Limitation

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2009 3.8% $25,873
2008 2.9% $24,916
2007 3.2% $24,214
2006 3.4% $23,463
2005 2.7% $22,693
2004 2.3% $22,096
2003 1.6% $21,599
2002 2.8% $21,259
2001 3.4% $20,680

Our water bill in Fla is 4 times what we pay in the SF Bay Area - and we're in Norcal 4 times as much as Fla! (guess that makes Fla water 16 times more expensive). Half of it is due to the sewer being charged in the water bill in Fla while it is in the property tax bill in Norcal.

Property tax bills are about the same when adjusted for home value differences.


.

What is an approx water bill in TV?

I know that south of 466 the irrigation is separate from the potable water.

;)How many times a month would you be showering?;)

Actually a good point considering all the activities that I do. I think I showered about 3 times per day in my last visit in May!

Our water bill is about $75/month (half is for sewer - they base the sewer on water use with no correction for landscape use). Marion County.

I read here a few months back that landscape water cost more per gallon than potable - true?
.

We're in Marion County and our October water bill was $15.92 and our Sewer was $25.88. Total about $42.

Looking at our most recent bill yes the cost of irrigation water is higher than potable water, at least it is in Sumter. But I imagine irrigation usage costs will vary according to lot sizes. Example: a patio villa probably uses a lot less irrigation water than our over sized designer home lot, so naturally we would see a higher water bill.