Understand Your New Florida Assessment and Property Taxes
A comparison of two similar properties; one homesteaded, the other not.
Palm Coast, Florida – August 31, 2008 – The proposed 2008 property assessments have been announced. The total taxable assessed value for Flagler County dropped 2.82% from $12,296,636,850 to $11,949,958,575. Yesterday, we received our notice of proposed property tax. If you don’t have yours, it will arrive soon. Our taxes will drop slightly, but not as much as our neighbor’s. Here is some help understanding the affect of the decrease on your expected taxes.
Take two similar adjacent properties. The first is owned by me and my wife, Shirley at 16 Players Circle. The second, a nearby house, is owned as a second home by an out-of-state couple. Our home has 2,425 square feet of living space. Theirs has 2,619. Both homes have pools and share the same view of a lake and the Grand Haven Golf Course. The main difference is that we are homesteaded. Our neighbors are not. The following tables show the affect that this has on assessments.
|
|
2007 Certified |
2008 Proposed |
% Change |
|
Just Value |
$399,901 |
$372,952 |
-7% |
|
Assessed Value |
296,321 |
305,211 |
+3% |
|
Exempt Value |
25,000 |
50,000 |
+100% |
|
Taxable Value |
271,321 |
255,211 |
-6% |
|
Max Portability |
103,580 |
67,741 |
-35% |
|
Property Taxes |
4,211 |
4,134 |
-2% |
|
|
2007 Certified |
2008 Proposed |
% Change |
|
Just Value |
$411,065 |
$377,030 |
-8% |
|
Assessed Value |
411,075 |
377,030 |
-8% |
|
Exempt Value |
0 |
0 |
|
|
Taxable Value |
411,065 |
377030 |
-8% |
|
Max Portability |
N/A |
N/A |
|
|
Property Taxes |
6,380 |
Notes:
-
Just value is established by the Property Appraiser for ad valorem tax purposes. It does not represent anticipated selling price. 2007 assessments are based on 2006 selling prices. 2008 proposed assessments are based on 2007 selling prices. 2009 assessments will reflect 2008 selling prices.
-
Our assessed value rose even though our just value fell. This happened because of the "Save our homes" amendment which capped previous assessment increases to 3%. Now, the property assessor must increase the assessed value to "recapture" the previous increase limits.
-
The neighbors will experience a greater decrease in properly taxes than do we, even though our exempt value doubled. (The additional $25,000 exemption does not apply to the public school portion of property taxes.) Any home not subject to homesteading should expect similar results.
-
With 2008 selling prices well below those of 2007, next year’s declining assessments may be even more dramatic.
Helpful Info
Toby,
Again your articles help clarify a confusing current and important topic. Thank you for providing such timely and useful information. Hope your website continues its rise in "eyeballs" focused on the real estate affairs of Flagler County. Congratulations on your work
Challenging assesments
The changes made every year for property assessments have to reflect the value as of January 1 of that year. Using Market data from the last 6 months is generally OK. But if a dynamic occurance has happened like rates go up for mortgages on December 31 of the previous year, or a disaster has happen to the property like a sink hole a anytime in the 12 preceding months, it must be assessed by a cost approach which would include negative values for repair or demolition. When the assesments are looked at the land value must be correct and stand on its own market approach. The current drop in land values of between 20% to 70% must be reflected in the assessment. That could negate the 3% total increase allowed and drop the assessment much lower. We shall see if the new 2008 assessments have taken these things into consideration when compairing the new assessments with last years. Generally land has dropped in value since 2005. A typical lot selling in 2005 that sold for $80,000 is now worth about $55,000.That’s 64.7% of the 2005 value. Or a 35.3% drop. The drop was not evenly distributed as it dropped faster as things got worse. If it had dropped 15% this last year and your property was increased 3% as the law allows, it had to be increased in the improvement portion not the land, as the land had to be dropped, if it was assessed at Just Value. If you can show the assessment is wrong, by showing comperable sold properties, you can challange the assessment and perhaps win. A timely filing is required.
Tax terrorism
Comming from Connecticut I can’t understand what you are doing down there in Florida with your property taxes. You have created two clases of real estate owners, advantaged and disadvantaged. It makes a Florida investment less atractive when it appears that the locals want to pile it on the out of state owners. Looking carefully at Florida but also other states.
Reply to Eric
You are correct in that Florida residents that are homesteaded are treated differently than out of state owners and investors. However, the difference is not always in our favor. As a homesteaded owner, my taxable value continues to rise while the true value of my property is declining. Meanwhile, a non-homesteaded property owner is seeing their taxable value decline in line with the drop in their true value. Go figure.