The five biggest taxing districts in Highlands County lost more than $519 million dollars in taxable land values this year, according to Property Appraiser Raymond McIntyre. ...more

October 13, 2008

"Even though the market is sluggish, you can still build an affordable new home if you own property and have equity in it," says Ivy Norwood, marketing executive for the family-owned company which has been building homes in the Tampa Bay area since 1955. ...more

September 7, 2008

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. ...more

June 26, 2008

SEBRING — Those beaming smiles made by a group of new land owners on Thursday were contagious, just a day prior to the group's land purchase at mobile home park Hammock Estates. ...more

February 21, 2008

SEBRING — Three weeks ago, when Amendment One was passed, the great unknown was portability. That provision in the constitutional amendment allows homeowners to take the 3 percent their Save Our Home caps property taxes and move it to a new home. ...more

February 20, 2008

SEBRING — To citizens who have been told their votes on Tuesday won't count, vote anyway. First, the chairs of Highlands County's two political parties agree: Floridians will have a voice into who leads our nation for the next four years. Second, there's a tax cut on the Jan. 29 ballot that will decide how homeowners, mobile home owners, farmers and businesses will be taxed, affecting them all perhaps decades into the future. ...more

January 27, 2008

SEBRING — Whether Floridians will vote for a tax cut won't be known until Jan. 29, but four local government officials are against it. "The tax reform doesn't fix the problem," said Guy Maxcy, a Highlands County commissioner. It doesn't correctly modify the taxing system, Maxcy said. The county would lose $5.5 million, according to an estimate provided by Highlands County Property Appraiser Raymond McIntyre. That doesn't count the effect of portability, which would allow homeowners to move the Save Our Homes cap. Save Our Homes is a constitutional mandate that a taxing entity cannot raise the taxable value of the home by more than 3 percent each year. He estimated the average homeowner could save $230 annually in property taxes. But taxing authorities could raise the millage to offset any tax cut created by the Jan. 29 vote, McIntyre said. ...more

January 18, 2008

SEBRING — If you think this ballot is complicated, you should have seen the first one. The super exemption, passed by the Legislature in June, would have offered voters a 75 percent exemption on their homes. But a Leon County Circuit Judge declared the proposed constitutional amendment so misleading and confusing, he struck it from the Jan. 29 ballot. So, Property Appraiser Raymond McIntyre told the Lake Placid Chamber of Commerce luncheon on Wednesday, now Floridians will vote Jan. 29 on a completely different – if only slightly less confusing – constitutional amendment. It's got four provisions, McIntyre told the crowd, but they can't vote on them individually. ...more

January 11, 2008