Why Are My Florida Property Taxes Going Up?

The proposed property tax notices are out and if your home is Homesteaded, you may be paying more in taxes. The reason for this is the millage rate has increased and the assessed value is still lower than the market value on your home. So even though the value of your home has dropped, it has not dropped below the assessed value. For example: if the assessed value for your home last year was $200,000 and your millage rate was 19, then your tax bill was $3,800. This year, your assessed value remained at $200,000 but the millage went up to lets say 22, then this year's tax bill will be $4,400. The reason the Taxing Authorities have raised the millage, is because the values of all the properties in Florida have gone down. Unlike most of us, when we have less money to spend we lower our budget, rather than lowering their budget, they are increasing our taxes. I guess they can't figure out that we are in a recession, income has remained level at best. The truth is that if we are lucky enough to still have a job, we have probably lost income.
Florida has legislation stating that the proper “measuring-stick” for taxing authority growth, from year to year, is the “Per Capita Income (PCI) Index + Growth” (meaning annual growth in newly constructed properties). Clearly the Taxing Authority's spending far exceeded increases in the personal income and the growth of newly constructed properties.
Our only recourse is to attend the public meetings and make our voices heard.Visit one of my websites at http://selldaytona.com/ or http://www.venetianbay.org/