Homestead Exemption?
 

A couple of questions regarding Homestead Exemption. What is the approximate reduction in your property tax do you get with the exemption vs. without. Just an approx figure because I know it will be different because of the three county and the appraised value of the home.

Also in looking at the Sumter County web site I notice that on some listings it shows two $25K homestead exemptions and I know the person is single. Are there more than one $25K exemption and if so what is the second for?

Sumter County changed their web site and they have made it a lot more difficult if researching property tax records. I tried doing a number of searches and of the 10 or so I tried only one came back with any tax history. Before the changes it was a one click effort and now it is a lot of cutting and pasting only to come up with nothing. That's the gov for you.

I'm new enough myself that I can't answer all your questions, but as for the one I quoted above, I tried 4 searches in a row and was able to get to each tax record without cuting and pasting. Try the following:

When you select a property on their map, you can then select the "Parcel Details" tab at the top of the map. On the details page you can then access the tax record by clicking "Retrieve Tax Record" on the upper right corner of the page.

I hope this helps you!

http://sumterpa.com/Exemptions.asp
The listing you said showes two $25K homestead exemptions may be because of the
SENIOR EXEMPTION
Additional $25,000 Homestead Exemption for Persons 65 and Over.
See the second paragraph in the above link.

Having seen the two HS exemptions on most properties I've seen, I have a feeling it's because you get one $25G's for each person on the deed meeting the requirements. The reason I don't think the second is the senior exemption is because it's possible that most over 65 are not qualified under the following requirement taken off the assessors website: "The total annual household income of the taxpayer does not exceed $24,500." If this is incorrect I'm sure someone more knowledgable than I will help clearify!

Senior Exemption (Over 65)
 

I too read the note about income cannot exceed 24,500 per year to qualify for the Senior exemption.

I think the question is, "What constitutes income"?

If income excludes social security, pension payments etc; and is only meant for salary, tips etc; more people would probably qualify.

Hope someone might have a clearer interpretation of this rule.

That is the way I was able to get the tax information in the past and now it will bring up a new welcome screen which you click on to continue your search. At that point you can cut and paste names, account numbers or parcel numbers but it will not retrieve the detailed tax information as in the past.

At first I was thinking that this may have been an Internet Explorer issue as I am now using IE9 RC but that is not the case. Same thing happens with Fire Fox. I next tried my lap top (IE8 and Fire fox) and both worked there. It may have been a recent Java script update on the desktop.

Thanks again as I now have some options and it is still better than going out and shoveling the 6" of party cloudy we received last night.

Thanks for the link. After reading the page I too have questions as to what is considered income for this exemption.

The $50K exemption shown on most properties is due to the fact that an additional $25K exemption applies to assessed value between $50 to $75K but only to nonschool taxes.

The Fl Dept. of Revenue website has explanations for all exemptions. You can google FL property tax exemptions for a list.

Guess it wasn't....

I removed IE9 RC and now everything is working as it had in the past. Looks like Microsoft has some bugs to correct before public release.

On an average Villages house, about how much do you save by applying for the Homestead Exemption? Does anybody know? Is it worth spending tomorrow digging through the boxes of paper in the closet to find the information I need, and then standing in line for 10 hours on Friday?
Just wondering,
Judy the procrastinator

Homestead Exemption
 

For those asking what is meant by Income, the form you sign to get the exemption is DR501SC, which specifically states as follows:
Definitions: Section 196.075, Florida Statutes. Additional homestead exemption for persons 65 and older. - As used on this application, the terms:
(a) “Household” means a person or group of persons living together in a room or group of rooms as a housing unit, but the term does not include persons boarding in or renting a portion of the dwelling.
(b) “Household income” means the adjusted gross income, as defined in s. 62 of the United States Internal Revenue Code, of all members of a household. (This is the “Adjusted Gross Income” amount reported on IRS Form 1040.)

Very rough numbers:

If you have a home with a tax value of $250K and pay $4,000 in property tax the $25k exemption would lower your value by 10% and probably lower your payment by 10% or $400 per year.


Add to that the possible savings of no state income tax in Fla versus what you pay in states having state income taxes.


.

An advantage to homesteading is that it sets the base cost of your home so that your property taxes can only go up a certain small % per year because of the Save our homes act. When property values were going up so much per year, the Save our homes act could save several thousand a year.

I did not explain it very well but we were homesteaded in South Florida and our neighbors were not. Over the years, as property values skyrocketed, our taxes went up a few hundred dollars each year, but our two neighbors jumped thousands per year, eventually getting to $16,000 for one home and $9000 for the other.

Thanks all for your replies. Now that I an back using IE 8 I can do some general research of a village and find a couple of similar valued homes with and without the exemption and find the difference.

The reason I asked this question was at some point I hope to have property in both Ohio and TV. At that point I will have to decide where to homestead and I and 90% sure it will be in Florida. I recently talked to the local auditors office here in Ohio and he tried to explain the math behind calculations and it was as if he was describing the math behind the Enron balance sheet. It bottom lined out to being about a $400.00 decrease in property taxes for the community where I currently live.

As far as the issues I was having with getting the tax information from the Sumter County web site that was due to a compatibility issue with IE 9 EC. There is a setting that needed to be changed but I went back to IE 8 before discovering that fix. I will wait until IE 9 is ready for final release.

Thinking that it was possible that what you stated above was not correct, I checked my tax records and those of 5 additional properties to check. In each case the assessed value was simply lowered by exactly the amount of the two exemptions ($50,000) to establish what the taxable value was.

With the assessed values being variable while the exemption values being constant, it was evident that no 10% calculation was involved in the process. Note though that this is in Sumter County and I can't say about any other county, but I would think that the method of applying the Homestead Exemption would be the same statewide.

Pensions, Annuities, Social Security all Count toward Income
 

Based on this definition, interest, dividends, social security, pensions and annuities all count as income so very few people will qualify for the additional 25,000 deduction.

Here's a question for all.

Can I file for the Homestead Exemption in Florida if I own a home in another state ???

Our home in Georgia will be on the market later this year and we are claiming our Florida (TV) as our primary residence. Can I claim Homestead Exemption ????

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks Chuckinca! That's exactly what I needed to know! You're the best! :thumbup:

Florida resident
 

In order to homestead, the primary thing is you must be a Florida resident. This means you must have your car insured with a Florida insurerer, car registered in Florida, and have a Florida driver license. In order to do that, you have to give up your other state driver license at the time you get the Florida license. Lots of hoops to jump through for that drivers license, too.

Yes, you can have a Florida homestead while owning a home in another state but the Florida home must be your primary (182 days) home.

You will be asked for proof when you apply for the homestead.

Just a follow-up... We went to the Sheriff's Annex with our folder full of papers last Friday. I took a book along, because I thought people would be lined up out the door to file for the Homestead Exemption, since it was almost the last day to file. Nope. No line, and only one other person was ahead of us. We didn't even have time to browse all the artwork in the gallery before we were called. We had the form filled out ahead of time, the woman looked at it, asked us to sign, and we were done. It was easy peasy!
We're official homesteaders! No more state income tax! Yay! :a040:
Thank you Chuckinca! :mademyday:

(PS: I also registered to vote while I was there. While I was completing the voter registration form, voterman checked the computer and found the woman in Florida who stole my identity 10 years ago! The voter registration rolls said she has the same name and birthdate as mine, but I was sued by her obstetrician for $10,000 for the baby he delivered for her in Florida. This is while I was living in Utah. We had to get a lawyer to resolve this. Now there's no way someone with my birthdate delivered a baby 10 years ago... but at the time I had to stop and think... $10,000? For a brand new baby? If I pay the $$ can I keep the baby? Can I see a picture of the baby? Is it cute? lol )