Tampa Bay Real Estate News - Well all Tampa Bay property owners and investors got some bad news to followup on the Tampa bay property tax news we received on August 15th when a Leon County Circuit Court removed Amendment 5 (aimed at lowering Florida property taxes) from the November ballot.
The wait is over here's the Tampa Bay real estate news: Florida's Supreme Court decided by a 7-0 ruling on September 3rd that Amendment 5 - the Property Tax reducing Amendment will not be on the November ballot and their decision is final.
This Supreme Courts' ruling ends an intense fight to help provide property tax relief to Tampa Bay real estate owners as well as all Florida Property onwers. The court's ruled to uphold the Circuit Court's decision to remove Amendment 5 from this fall's ballot because of the language in the property tax amendment which said "education funding would be held harmless". The issue for them was the "language" and the fact that Amendment 5 funding would only be held harmless for the 1st year and then education funding would be determined by the Florida State legislature.
We will continue to keep you posted on what's happening with Tampa Bay real estate issues that effect you so stay tuned.
The Florida Association of Realtors, which supported the amendment, decried Cooper's ruling saying "Homeownership is a fundamental right, and Floridians deserve a say on how their property is taxed," said Chuck Bonfiglio, president of the Florida Association of Realtors, in a prepared statement. "We are shocked that the court decided to deny property owners' the ability to dramatically lower their property tax rates."
We as Tampa Bay Realtors and home owners were excited about voting YES for Amendment 5 Property taxes. We believe it would have helped Tampa Bay Real Estate buyers, residents and renters because everyone should have experience savings. We also believe it would have helped home sellers since by making Pinellas County homes more affordable and more appealing to buyers who do not currently qualify for homestead exemptions. Remember: Florida property taxes have doubled over last 6 years!
Amendment 5 had projected savings for Tampa Bay property owners
- Hillsborough property owners = 23%,
- Pinellas County property owners = 25%
- Pasco property owners = 32%
Amendment 5 Property Tax Details
Now we'll have to wait and see what happens in the future. Here are the details for the Amendment 5 proposal at Give Me 5 Florida and the actual Amendment 5 property tax proposal. Benefits: Amendment 5 would have provided much-needed tax relief to Florida's seniors, many of whom fear losing their homes because of an inability to pay higher property taxes on a fixed income.
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Copyright © 2008 Jack and Cyndee Haydon, Clearwater REALTORS and your Clearwater Real Estate Consultants specializing in Tampa Bay Real Estate and may not be copied, reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed or published.
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Cyndee, sounds like the seniors could have really benefited from Amendment . So nice to see you in the Rain.