Florida's Property Tax-Reform Plan

I've been getting a lot of calls from my customers and past clients asking me to explain to them the upcoming Tax-Reform bill which will be on the ballot later this month...Briefly, here's my understanding of the benefits:

• The Homestead Exemption will be doubled from $25,000. to $50,000. But, the 2nd $25,000. exemption will not reduce local school tax collections.
• The Save Our Homes (SOH) Cap of 3% will be preserved and will provide for portability. This will allow a homesteader to "move up" to a higher priced home (higher than their current home based on the tax appraiser's "Just Value assessment") and take their SOH savings on with them for a maximum of $500,000. For homesteaders moving to a less expensive home, the plan will allow them to take a portion of their SOH savings. (There are formulas for these examples which I would be happy to provide). The portability provision will be retroactive to January 1st, 2007.
• The plan also approves a proposal that provides an assessment cap similar to the SOH cap to second home owners of non-homesteaded properties and commercial properties. The cap is set at 10% and represents a huge precedent for a state to provide tax assessment caps on second homes, investment properties and commercial property owners!
• Lastly, the plan includes a $25,000 exemption for taxes businesses pay on equipment and other personal property.

I hope this helps...I will be attending a seminar on January 17th which is being sponsored by the Naples Chamber of Commerce and the Naples Area Board of Realtors. If I learn anything new, I promise to share it! In the meantime, it would be my recommendation for you to vote YES!