Amendment 1 Shaves $200 From Property Tax Bill

Remember that property tax cut you voted on in January, which added a $25,000 homestead exemption?

Amendment 1 is taking effect with the tax bill property owners will receive in July, said Highlands County Property Appraiser Raymond McIntyre.

So how much will the average homeowner save?

The real answer is "it depends," said McIntyre, on whether the taxpayer lives in a city or the county, which water management district, the price of the home, whether it's a mobile home, or if it's a commercial business.

Average Home
But assuming those factors don't apply, McIntyre figured a tax bill for a fictional $200,000 home in Highlands County. The price of the average home is $192,000, he said.

And that homeowner will save about $198, he estimated.

Amendment 1 also granted a $25,000 personal property tax cut to mobile home owners in rental parks for garages, carports, sunrooms and outbuildings. If the mobile home owner lives outside the city limits, he'll save $389, under the 2007 millages in Highlands County.

There are also real property tax cuts for mobile home owners who own their land, and for businesses.
There are several caveats, McIntyre said. The first is that millages could change.

"We don't know what the county commissioners are going to do," McIntyre pointed out. South Florida Water Management District and Southwest Florida Water Management District and other taxing authorities could also raise their rates, McIntyre said.

Also, taxpayers are suing the state of Florida over Amendment 1. The entire law could be overturned.
Finally, voters will decide on another property tax cut in November, McIntyre said. Amendment 1 capped the commercial property taxes at 10 percent. The November tax cut, if 60 percent of the voters approve, could lower that cap to 5 percent.

It would also eliminate school millages, and replace those school taxes with a 1 cent sales tax. McIntyre had heard that the state estimates schools, statewide, would lose $3.5 billion in the difference between a one penny sales tax and the current school millages collected in each county.

Next week, the Highlands County tax rolls will be certified to Tallahassee and to local taxing authorities, so they can set their millages and budgets.

"They have until August to report back to us," McIntyre said.

McIntyre will mail out proposed tax bills to property owners in mid-August, he said. That gives taxpayers an opportunity to point out errors and contest their bills. Actual tax bills will be mailed in November.