Sumter county tax
 

Anyone know when the next public meeting will be when 25% tax increase will be discussed

I believe it is scheduled to be held on September 10th. Meeting location has yet to be announced.

From Sumter County website:

The Board of County Commissioners will hold public hearings in September 2019 to discuss and vote on the County's Millage Rate and Budget for FY 2019/20:

1. Tentative FY 2019/20 Millage Rate & Budget Hearing is scheduled to be held on September 10th at 6 p.m. at Savannah Center, 1545 N Buena Vista Blvd, The Villages, FL 32162.

2. Final FY 2019/20 Millage Rate & Budget Hearing is scheduled to be held on September 24th at 6 p.m. at Savannah Center, 1545 N Buena Vista Blvd, The Villages, FL 32162.

How convenient that they managed to schedule all this before the snowbirds migrate south, who will be the most effected by the tax increase because of no homestead exemption. Coincidence, I think not.

Maybe it's because the budget must be approved in September

This is the same schedule that is followed every year in Sumter County. Generally, most Florida counties follow a similar schedule.

:ohdear: Fiscal year. :oops: It runs from October 1 of the budget's prior year through September 30 of the year being described. For example: FY 2020 is between October 1, 2019 and September 30, 2020. :rolleyes:

I get confused..... how is it done in Taxachusetts?

Looking for an education here - I thought the homestead is protection against assessment increases. In my tax statement the property assessment with and without homestead is what is displayed. If they raise the millage rate (not the assessment) won't everyone's taxes independent of homestead status increase by the same percentage ?

The percentage goes up. But if you have a homestead exemption, then the first $25,000 of your property value is exempt from all property taxes, including school district taxes.

If you qualify for that, then you also qualify for a thing called "Save-Our-Homes" which limits the amount of an increase, if the mil rate changes. That is only applied to the increase, not to the base rate.

There's also an improvement part to the Homestead program, so if you buy property and build a home on it, you can qualify for $50,000 exemption instead of $25,000.

This is a commercial website, but it gives a simple outline of the program in layman's terms:

Florida Homestead Exemption and Requirements

Exactly my point the exemptions you are quoting apply to the assessment. Thus if the millage rate goes up by 25% everyone's county property tax goes up by 25% requadless if you are a homesteader not. Could you please explain your second paragraph in more detail IE "limits the amount of an increase". An increase to what assessment or taxes ? By how much ?

The website about homesteading you provided clearly says - Limitation. The Save-Our-Homes cap limits the property value that can be assessed, not the actual taxes that can be levied. In other words, a homeowner’s property taxes increase by more than 3 percent if the taxing authorities change the millage rates. The cap only applies to increases in property value.

Thus everyone in Sumter County is going to pay this proposed increase.

Sumter County Homestead info.

Sumter County Property Appraiser - Joey Hooten - Bushnell, Florida - 352-569-6800

I have read the homestead info posters are suggesting. My interpretation of what is published is that everyone in Sumter County will have their taxes increased by the same percentage regardless of homestead exemption status. If you have read those publications do you agree with my assessment ?

Yes. :ho: