Court of Appeals Upholds Real Estate Tax Breaks for Florida Homeowners
The three-judge panel upheld the Save Our Homes amendment as well the new portability provision, both of which favor long-time Florida resident homeowners.
Palm Coast, FL – November 18, 2009 – The Save Our Homes amendment, passed in 1992, caps annual assessment increases to 3% for homesteaded properties. Last year, Florida voters added a portability provision which allows at least part of the Save Our Homes tax savings to follow the homesteaded owner when he or she moves to another Florida home. Lawsuits followed, challenging both the underlying amendment and the portability feature. Tuesday Florida’s 1st District Court of Appeal ruled against the petitioners on both counts.
While Save Our Homes was a great benefit for long-term homesteaded owners when property values soared, it has punished many during the recent market decline. The whipsawing is driven by the provision for recapture. Recapture allows the taxable value to increase annually as much as 3% even while property value falls so long as the property value exceeds the assessed value.
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Market, Just, Assessed Values
The biggest problem is the Appraisers did not value properties at Market value, but much lower. Then the 3% each year did not meet the increases of the boom, but the boom built homes were appraised at closer to market value than the properties before them.Then when things went down the older, under appraised properties, did not catch up with the new closer to market value properties. They will all equal out soon, and the portability savings will dissapear, as the lower prices of everything makes the appraisers come up with the same assesments. That in itself proves the law was not considering prices going down. Then everything except the new higher priced properties that are above 3% of comperable properties will be appraised higher than all the others, giving the boom property and pre boom properties the same advantage, creating the potability advantage again. The law needs to be re written to make everyone appraised at the same level, and all then given the Homestead at the prescribed levels.Many suits have won on the grounds they are being discriminated against by the law a not being logical. It was written to allow the many that had low appraisals, to buy new properties, as many would not buy due to loosing the tax advantage.