[onlypars]

We are anticipating moving to The Villages within the year. Could anyone tell us if there is a way to estimate the property taxes on the homes we are interested in. Great Homes on the website - just need more info on taxes.

[villages07]

OnlyPars,

For Sumter county, you can search the tax assessor's website records that will show you the history of property tax assessments/payments for a property.

http://www.sumtertaxcollector.com/disc.html

You have to know the owner's name or tax account id (not just the address).

Please note....what someone else paid in property taxes does not equate to what you would pay if you bought the same exact property. The prior owner probably had limits to annual assessment value increases, might have had homestead or other exemptions, etc. When you buy a property, it gets a new base assessment.

Most properties are in Sumter County but the other 2 counties have similar tax search websites.

As an aside.... I bought in Aug 2006, probably the peak of the market. When I got my tax notice bill this year, I went up to the Sumter appraisers office and asked about reassessing....people who bought my same house 6-12 months later probably paid a lot less. The staff person explained that they do review each property every year....they have a formula for each base model of house then apply add-ons for square foot stretches, pools, birdcages, etc as well as extras for lot size/view. Interesting, though, is that the County lot premiums are far less than TV was charging at the time. We paid a $70K lot premium for size and some view ... they only add in $30K; Some neighbor golf course views originally had a $150K lot premium and assessor site shows them at about $80K. So, your assessable value will no doubt be quite less than the sales price you would put on the house.

http://www.sumterpa.com/


This site allows you to look up by address too.

[dgammon6]

Problem is the Sumter web page is way behind. We purchased May 7, and our property is not listed.

[Russ_Boston]

I can find everything about the house/villa but it doesn't seem to have the amount of tax due. Can I just take the assesed value and multiply by X?.

What value do I use for X?

[villages07]

Russ,

The link I provided shows you the actual tax bill...for last year still. The tax bill factors in homestead, and 'save our homes' savings on assessment, and shows bond debt/bond maintenance assessments.

For any property you would buy, you would multiply the taxable value x millage rate(s) then add on non-advalorum items to arrive at total tax bill. If you pay it before 11/30, they knock off 4% from the total bill.

Total millage rate for Sumter last year (county, schools, water management) was about 13.58 per 1,000 of taxable value.

[JohnN]

I've heard a rule of thumb is purchase price less homestead exemption (25K, if you claim a florida homestead) times 2%

not sure, but I think that's close

[Russ_Boston]

Thanks - looks like closer to 1.5% of purchase price for a quick rule of thumb after looking at some of the sales eariler this year and doing the calc.

[poromo]

Is the bond repayment included in the real estate taxes or is it a payment added to the percentages indicated above?

[NJblue]

Here is what I used in my spreadsheet and for the house that we are building in Sumter County turned out to be quite accurate. ( The original formula and data came from the Re/Max web site.)


tax=(sales price x .85)/1000 times the milage rate for the county. For Homestead rates, deduct $50K from sales price.

Milage Rates:
Lake - 16.939
Marion - 14.7728
Sumter - 13.5843

The bond would be on top of this number.

[Sidney Lanier]

Keep in mind that the homestead exemption is $50,000 for owners over age 65, plus there are additional exemptions for disabled veteran, blind, under a certain income, and so forth.

Also, the bond payment appears on the tax bill but is not considered part of the property taxes, nor is it tax deductible (as discussed on another thread).

[onlypars]

Thanks to all for the info - Great Help - See you in a year

[NJblue]

Originally Posted by Sidney Lanier

Keep in mind that the homestead exemption is $50,000 for owners over age 65, plus there are additional exemptions for disabled veteran, blind, under a certain income, and so forth.

Also, the bond payment appears on the tax bill but is not considered part of the property taxes, nor is it tax deductible (as discussed on another thread).

I don't recall seeing any age requirements to be eligible for the homestead exemption. Did I just miss it?

[villages07]

NJ,

No, no age restrictions for basic homestead...perhaps what Sidney was citing was a higher exemption for persons over 65.

Everything quoted above is based on 2007 tax rules.

We recently received our 2008 property tax notice (preliminary, not the final rates). With the property tax reform passed in Florida, the base homestead exemption is now $50,000 not $25K. With all the hocus pocus of exemptions and millage rates and a steady tax value assessment, my taxes look like they will go down $100 this year.

[chuckinca]

V07:

If the base exemption went up to $50,000, do you know what the over 65 exemption is?