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February 7, 2007: Walton and Okaloosa County Taxpayers
How Florida taxpayers can fight back against the rising tax burden on second home owners.
The following is a commentary written by Florida vacation rental owner, Don. While they are the views of this owner, they may not necessarily be the views of HomeAway Inc. or its subsidiaries.
Please let me explain my interpretation of why our taxes have increased as they have. In 1992 Florida voters approved an amendment to the Florida Constitution called “Save our Homes.” Save Our Homes, was a tax relief package aimed at keeping Floridians of moderate means from being taxed out of their homes. It did much more that that. Those protected by homestead cannot have their property's assessed value for taxes increased by more than 3%. Since we are not homesteaded, with the increase in market value our appraised values have increased dramatically. This has the effect of shifting the tax burden from those who have been homesteaded for a long time over to those who buy a home, rent, small businesses and those of us who have second homes. Many people in Okaloosa and Walton Counties saw their tax bill go down as our tax bills went up.
Many of those who have been homesteaded for a long time complain that they cannot sell their home and buy another because the appraised value of the home they buy would then cause them to pay more taxes. They would lose the advantage they now have due to “Save our Homes” and they would have to start over at the new home with its higher assessed value. They are proposing “Portability” so they can carry the saving from their old home to their new home. They are also proposing increase the homestead exemption from $25,000 to $50,000. This also shifts more of the burden to us.
Another thing that Save our Homes has caused is runaway government spending. Since the homesteaded property owners saw their tax bill go down and they are the registered voters they have not been concerned with spending increases. They see their tax bills go down so there is no pressure to hold down spending.
Since most of us do not vote in Florida this is our chance to help more equalize the tax burden.
I met Cindy Meadows, Walton County Commissioner, at the Walton County Taxpayers Association meeting last week. She spoke of an effort to put a cap on non-homesteaded properties assessment increases limiting tax increases on second homes and investment properties. She sent me a form letter and a list of our legislative delegation and contact information. If we want to control our taxes we all need to fill out the form and send a copy to all of the representatives on the list.
A letter for both Okaloosa and Walton County owners is linked below. I believe that the representatives are the same for both counties. If this is incorrect please let me know or post the correct information on this website. You may forward this to other Okaloosa and Walton County property owners that you know. This effort can help control our taxes!
Okaloosa County: Tax Relief Letter
Walton County: Tax Relief Letter
Representative Contact Information
Also, please take the Florida Chamber of Commerce survey to let the state know how rising property taxes are influencing your business.
Do you own property in Florida? Tell us your story. We're trying to be as thorough as possible in our research, but since we don't actually own property in this area, we need your help!
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