The Florida Association of Realtors (FAR) is supporting the proposed property tax amendment coming before FLorida voters next month. For those of us working in FLorida, this is a very big deal. Presently, homeowners that have lived a number of years in the state can't move from their residence to another Florida residence without seeing their annual property taxes double or triple in amount. As a result, many Floridians have simply not moved or have moved out of state rather than see their taxes jump significantly. The proposed amendment allows for something called "portability" for these longtime Floridian homeowners, i.e. if you move within the state, the increase in the amount of property taxes you'd pay would be less than it would be now. Additionally, the homestead exemption would double to $50,000. This proposal is intended to jumpstart the realty industry down here.
My question is, has anyone read the full amendment describing the way "portability" would work? Like everything, I imagine we'd get used to it & learn to understand it. However, right now it's very confusing & I wonder how easily the counties can implement it. FAR is ready to embrace anything that will spur sales but is this the right proposal? It still seems like there would be two tiers of property tax payers--full-time Floridians and everyone else (although this proposal DOES give some protection to investors against rapidly rising property taxes, unlike the present system).
Any thoughts out there?
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