True Real Estate Tax Relief Would Create Another Real Estate BOOM!

Glynn County Georgia's property taxes average about 1% of the sales price of the home paid annually and includes your garbage pick up.  One of the greatest things that Glynn County has implemented not only a homestead exemption for owner occupied, but also for retired, veterans, etc. 

There is a second tier of our homestead exception (referred to as Scarlett-Williams named after the legislators who wrote this bill)  that allows the property owner to hold their assessed value from the year they purchase the home the entire time they own it. (So many people can't afford their homes in later years due to increase and values and increase in taxes.) 

We are in grow so maybe that is what caused some of our real estate boom - it really attracts those retiring buyers who don't want to worry about increasing property taxes. 

Phil - the question I ask everytime someone pops up with the same old argument about eliminating property taxes is:  why not just reduce them significantly, instead of elimination?  But no one ever answers me.  I pose the same question to you.

- Tchaka 

Oh gee the old property tax debate again.  Seems we are all waiting with baited breath for our elected legislature to make good on at least one campaign promise.  They won't!  I've said many times before, taxes were not an issue here until insurance went through the roof.  Does anyone hear about insurance reform here?  Of course not, the insurance industry bought and paid for our legislators, including governor Crist who realized in excess of 500k for his campaign from the insurance industry.  So the result will be a property tax cut, as currently proposed, enough for me to buy a pizza a week for 52 weeks, a budget cut in Brevard County of 93 million dollars, the cut back and elimination of many social programs, the lay offs of at least 100 county workers (me included), cutting library and park hours and on and on.  All this while the insurance companies are raking in billions in profits and not one of our elected officials is even talking about that.  I'd like to see the elimination, if necessary, of property taxes, the increase in sales tax, with food, medicine and clothing at a reduced sales tax rate so the poor amongst us are not paying for my property tax relief.  But what I'd really like to see is the insurance companies having to roll back their rates to pre-2004. 

Terry Haugen - STAGE it RIGHT!

if you eliminated taxes why do i feel that at some point they will reserface.

tchaka says lower taxes, may i add with fiscal responsibility i'm all for it.

if you keep SOH we must have some form of portability. 

BUT we need to stop talking about it and do something. 

Jay - for clarification, I say lower taxes instead of eliminating them.  There's all this talk of eliminating taxes but few address the need for the state and counties to have income.  And those that do only mention increasing the sales tax, which is regressive.  Like you, I agree that fiscal responsibility is needed.  Local govts are crying about the tax reduction but they were doing fine a few years ago when they made a fraction of what they do now.  

Julie - 2 things:  1) GA has state income tax, which FL doesn't.  2) I like the 2nd tier exemption you talk of and that's somewhat like the SOH that FL has.  The problem with that is that once rapid appreciation occurs, those who bought before are fine but those who buy afterwards pay massive taxes.  That's part of the whole problem here in FL.

- Tchaka