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Highlands Today

It's Time For Fairness In Florida's Property Tax System

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By None Selected

Published: October 21, 2007

When it comes to property taxes — or just about anything else, for that matter — all any reasonable person wants is fairness. We want to know we aren't getting gouged while the person down the street is getting a sweet deal. In Florida, there is no fairness when it comes to property taxes, and it's time to fix that – even if it's painful.

For a long time, permanent residents have enjoyed a $25,000 homestead exemption and Save Our Homes, which caps property taxes from rising too much from year to year. It's a good deal, and what's not to like? Nothing, of course, unless you are not a permanent resident, a landlord or a business owner. If you are any of these folks, you are at the mercy of Florida's topsy-turvey real estate market. And that's a bad place to be these days.

These are desperate times for many people owning property who do not get homestead and Save Our Homes protection. People are leaving our state as a result, and if you don't think that affects us, you are wrong.

Lawmakers can't seem to reach a conclusion on what's needed, but it seems fairly simple, at least in the big picture. Every property owner should receive the homestead exemption and be protected by Save Our Homes. If they did that, almost all of the unfairness in the current system would fade away. It doesn't require a doubled exemption, just an equal one across the board.

Not everyone would be happy, of course. That's an impossibility no matter how you fashion a fix, but at this point, our state should just do what's right. Some elected officials might lose their jobs for doing the right thing, but if ever there was a good reason to lose, this is it. Most of us would rather lose on principle than stay in office by being unfair to the people we are supposed to represent. That's Pollyannish, we know, but it's true — or should be.

Making a change to homestead exemptions for everyone and Save Our Homes would certainly affect our county and local governments. That's why they cannot have their hands tied to do what's necessary to provide services for citizens in particular communities and counties. It's unfair for state government to restrict that anyway. Local voters can decide what they want local elected officials to do. If their will is not followed, it's their fault, since voters can boot someone out of office for not doing a good job.

Until Floridians take a stand on fairness in the property tax system, we'll have a mess on our hands. The system is broken, and until we have the will to fix it, we'll keep getting duct tape and baling wire fixes. That's the last thing we need on something so important to all of us.

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