Clarification on Property Taxes.
 

We will be looking in the Villages this fall. I want to clarify the tax differences in locations.
Besides the 3 counties in the Villages, I understand that you would be paying property taxes in another city if your home falls inside the other cities borders.

Do we pay ONE or the OTHER or pay both Villages & the other City Taxes.

And is it correct that after 65 yrs old, after one year I can apply for homestead exemption - making 50K of our home value NON taxable.


Thanks for your time;
Will

There is no Villages tax, just the county tax and city tax. You always pay county tax. If your home happens to be within an incorporated area then you would ALSO pay city tax.

Every home is eligible for the homestead exemption if you live there full time; there is no age limit for this. If you are older (perhaps 65, I don't qualify yet) then there may be another exemption you can take. Google Sumter County Florida Property Tax to find a page with good information.

If you have not go to the county sites to review the taxes.
Yes you pay all the different taxes for the area you are living in. Utilities available and rates also vary withing a county or city in some cases.
Be careful if you are buying an older home. Refigure the taxes on what you are paying and not what they are paying as the law gives home owners various tax breaks.
You can qualify for the homestead exemption the year you are living full time in the home on Jan 1st as I recall. Since the taxes are generally billed at the end of the prior year you will have a number of months that you do not get the benefit of the deduction.

Actually, there is a separate "Villages" tax on your annual property tax bill, which is the annual maintenance for your particular unit. It is not based upon your property valuation, but is calculated annually based upon your unit's share of your district's annual maintenance. It tends to run between $500-$1000 annually.

Realtor Robyn Cavallaro did an excellent YouTube video on this subject.

Title of video: cheapest area to live in the Villages

I tried to upload onto this thread but was unable.

Once you watch the video, you will no longer be confused.

Here's a list of the property tax exemptions for Lake County. Exemptions - Lake County Property Appraiser

Each county will have different exemptions and potentially different amounts.

The over-65 exemption only applies to those who meet certain low income requirements.

I think this is the video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nl1OtA0Wsdk

Homestead exemption is income-based
 

Agree unless Florida is different from other states. In Ohio, the exemption is based on gross income, not just earned income. As a result, if you are drawing from pensions, retirement funds, you will likely NOT qualify for homestead exemptions....maybe Florida is different?

In Florida, all homeowners can qualify for the standard homestead exemption. But:

"In order to qualify for the Low-Income Senior Exemption for 2024, an applicant must be 65 or older as of January 1, 2024, receive the Homestead Exemption on the property, AND have a combined household adjusted gross income for 2023 not exceeding $36,614 (note: this adjusted gross income limitation number is adjusted annually in January to reflect the percentage change in the average cost of living index)."

Tax
 

I would not decide by taxes but by quick cart access to what you will want to do. That probably means preowned above hwy 44

I agree... however..
 

Location Location Location...I am a man of conveniences & dont want to spend an hour on a cart just to get a donut. So I agree with that point.
BUT....... I just can not find an answer to what I feel is a simple question.

Depending on WHERE the home is...I would be paying property taxes, but say I buy a home in the Villages, but also falls in fruitland Park city footprint would I be paying property taxes to the Villages AND to Fruitland Park ? If I bought a home up in Sumter county that is not inside any other city limits, I would only be paying property taxes only to the Villages. To me, paying DOUBLE the taxes would be a big deal.

Technically, there are no "property taxes" charged by The Villages. Property taxes are paid to the county and to the city, if your house is located within a city.

Your tax bill is divided into two sections, the ad valorem section and the non-ad valorem section. The ad valorem (based on value) section are your property taxes paid to the county and to the city. The non-ad valorem section are assessments that are collected by the county for convenience purposes only, but the funds go to others.

Regardless of where you buy, you will NOT pay property taxes to the Villages. The Villages collects NO tax at all. In most (all?) areas you WILL pay a maintenance fee to your CDD however, this is NOT a property tax and the CDD is NOT the Villages.

As for property taxes, as I stated above, you will pay property taxes to the county your home is in (Sumter, Lake, or Marion). If your home is in one of the incorporated areas such as Fruitland Park, Wildwood, or Leesburg then you will ALSO pay property tax to that city. In the case of Fruitland Park you would pay property tax to both Lake County and the city of Fruitland Park. It really is that simple.

The next question is what services do you receive from the city you might pay taxes to? There have been multiple threads on that topic with no clear answer.

Taxes
 

Annually fees can range from fairly low to over 10,000 per year excluding amenities. If you live in an unincorporated area you don’t pay the city tax portion that can be around 1000 on up per year all new locations have been drawn into paying the city taxes of Wildwood or Leesburg.

Inclusive in the annual taxes fees payment are county and school taxes along with a fire assessment fee.

Bonds can be a part of the annual bill, but they are going way up! This fee is calculated at the time of closing to pay for infrastructure like sewer, fire stations, water etc. Roads and bridges are paid for indirectly by the county now. Initial burdens are borne by the developer till reimbursement from the county, the last payment was 50 million for southern Oaks area to the Developer https://www.**************.com/2020/...outhern-oaks/# . In a way you pay for those twice through bond and as taxpayers to the county.

Not sure if I can make it any clearer than others have, but I’ll give it a go…
First, you would not be paying double the taxes if you live within the borders of a municipality (Fruitland Park, Wildwood, Leesburg). It will certainly increase your tax bill, potentially by $1000 per year, more or less, depending on the value of your home and current tax rate in that municipality. The current millage rate in Wildwood is roughly 2.8, for reference.

Here is what will be on your tax bill:

County: You will pay the county where the home is, based on the millage rate in that county and your property’s assessed value. Yes, you receive a deduction for homestead if you are full time, in Jan of the year following your purchase… I think that’s accurate. It is $25,000 on the first… gosh, I don’t recall, but maybe the first $150,000 of your assessed value, then another $25,000 for the next $150,000 or whatever that number is, so $50,000 total deduction.

Municipality: as stated above. There are unincorporated areas within the villages that do not have municipal taxes. Those areas are only in Marion and parts of Sumter county as far as I know…

School assessment for state and county. You will only receive the first $25,000 homestead deduction for purposes of calculating school tax.

Water district assessment.

Fire assessment.

Maintenance assessment.

Bond. This can be $2000 or more yearly, depending on where you buy. If you buy in an older section, the bond may likely be paid off already, or be paid down significantly, so something to consider.

You can try the County Property Appraiser website for more info, or try calling one of the county appraiser’s offices.

Hope this helps. Anyone, please correct anything I have wrong!

If you want the answer, ask the agent to show you the latest tax bill for that property. You should also be able to find it online.

I pay Sumter County taxes; Sumter County School taxes; City of Wildwood taxes; and SWFWMD (Southwest Florida Water Management District) taxes. These are Ad Valorem taxes. You would also pay Sumter Fire Assessment; Maintenance; and bond. These are non-ad Valorem assessments. They are assessments - not taxes so I don't think they are deductible - but talk to a CPA or tax attorney.

If you buy in Sumter and if you do not live within the City of Wildwood, you would not pay City taxes (about $700 a year) but I think you would pay the remaining taxes and fees.

I believe the cheapest property taxes would be in a Village that is in an UNincorporated area of Sumter County. A realtor should be able to help you find that.

Being in Sumter County and not in a city and having SECo for electric is a significant savings over other options

This is very true.

AND, many of these homes have been paying on their bond for 8-15 years. Or have chosen to pay off their bond. So that is another big savings.

Thanks..
 

Thanks, THIS I understand.

Let me answer a different way. The Villages are located in three different counties. You pay taxes to the county you your house is in. I believe that Sumter county has the lowest tax rate, but you can check that separately. In all cases , if you reside in an incorporated City, you will also pay city taxes above and beyond the county taxes. Sometimes hard to see any additional benefits.

I did the research. Attached is a comparison of taxes throughout The Villages.

This is excellent, thank you for doing the research.

My follow up questions (not necessarily for you specifically) would be: How does each county approach reassessment of a resell? Are all reassessments 100% of the sale price regardless of county? Are they a percentage (e.g., 80%) of the sale price with each county having their own 'formula'?

I know county sites have tax estimator tools where you plug in a sale price and location and it spits out estimated tax bill, but I'd kind of like to know how the sausage is made regarding reassessment.

Marion country has highest taxes and district 4 highest yearly maintenance fees. But, less traffic all year round. VA clinic of CR42 which in district 4. Resales in 1 though 4 mostly no bonds or little left on them. Don’t forget bonds they can vary on new or newer homes unforeseen large cost also. Maintenance fees in all areas are going to go up. Way up IMO due all golf course maintenance next year?

Unincorporated is the way to go. You get everything without paying the ridiculous city taxes that buy nothing.

Maintenance assessments do not go to support the golf courses. The golf course maintenance is done from the Amenity fee which is limited to increases annually by the CPI.

Didn’t they remove cap?

So who going to pay for all golf course repairs next year? How else are going to get that money from residents? Then, amenities going to go up? Where else is millions going to come from?

The amenity fee will go up with the annual CPI adjustment, no more than that.
The money will come from the R&R (repair and replacement) fund, as it always does for this kind of work. That's what it's there for.
Additions to the R&R fund is included in every year's budget, as are withdraws.
The annual deferral rate was eliminated because prices continue to rise but revenue did not, we were 2-3 years away from having to withdraw from the R&R fund and apply it to the general fund budget just to cover operating costs (not adding additional to the R&R fund)

I've seen her videos. She has a decent YT channel

and on the same block, the same model of house ,different taxes??? im not talking pool or end of block, just a few houses down and it can be a few thousand higher or lower ??

Can be many things
 

Could be a lower purchase price, perhaps the neighboring house was bought in a different year?

Could be homestead exemption or carried taxes from another Florida house?

Could be a lot of things…

Could be: https://floridarevenue.com/property/Documents/pt112.pdf :shrug:

Considering that The Villages (with just a few neighborhoods that have exceptions) doesn't have ANY HOA fees at all, and the amenity fee is still under $200 for everything you get, I'd say it's a pretty good deal. HOWEVER - I also think money is being mismanaged by the CDDs, who *appear* to sign off on any necessary emergency infrastructure needs, even when it's clear those needs are the result of inefficient workmanship. Which is, or should be, the Developer's responsibility.

I'm talking about things like water main collapses in areas that are under 10 years old. That shouldn't happen, and if it does, then the Developer should be handling that. They're the ones who arranged for those faulty pipes to be put there.

And that mean most likely you will be living in Sumter County right above 44 and be paying the lowest taxes. Best to stay in Sumter County our of Wildwood and you will be paying the lowest taxes.

Thanks for sharing
 

Thanks for sharing

24/25 final mileage rates
 

Each county has it's own "mileage rate". In Sumter County, the rate for 24/25 is decreasing from 5.19 to 4.89. Wildwood city tax is staying the same at 2.827. The fire assessment is going up as is the Sumter County School tax. My CDD (maintenance rate is also going up). Again you will pay a county tax no matter where you go. City tax may also be imposed if in a "incorporated" area. Homestead exemption in Sumter County is 50,000.00. You can also get a Vet, first responder and blind exemptions. Check each county property tax web site for specifics. Sumter County has an office on Powell and 466a. The copper domed building. There is a property tax office in there. (As well as DMV, Voter Registration, VA, Library, Dog registration, Master Gardner on Fridays).