Oh, I'm pissed, and for good reason. Home values in Broward County Florida have plummeted over the last five years, yet the county and city of Pembroke Pines have nevertheless found a way to raise our property taxes anyway. How convenient. Here I am like others in the county expecting a break this year, and then I get my annual "Trim" notice in the mail. It is essentially Florida's version of an estimate.
Oh yeah, you can fight it, but good luck. Take a ticket and stand in line is their motto. You have to be able to document everything in terms of comps from the prior year. They have found what is called "recapture," which under Florida law means, a homestead "recapture" rule may cause some taxable values to rise even when the overall market value dropped from last year. If you are Homesteaded and your "Save Our Homes" (SOH) value is less than the market value as of January 1, Florida Administrative Code Rule 12D-8.0062(5) explicitly orders our office to increase your overall assessed value each year (up to the 3% annual cap level) until it eventually reaches the same amount as the market value. Click here to view the applicable law. The Department of Revenue set this year's SOH rate at 1.5%. Roughly 71,000 Broward homeowners unfortunately experienced the recapture effects of this law in 2011, even though their overall market values fell. Those impacted by recapture are mostly owners who either purchased and homesteaded their properties before 2001 or newer purchasers who recently moved portability savings to a new property. The Florida Legislature has placed this issue on the November 2012 ballot as a constitutional amendment. If passed by voters, the amendment would allow the Legislature to change this law as early as 2013. This affects me directly and our Governor Rick Scott attached it to our "Save Our Homes" amendment during the last vote. I don't think anyone even knew it was there, much less what recapture means.
I urge all Broward County residents to vote yes for a repeal of this amendment when this issue is placed on the ballot in November of 2012. If passed, this will become a constitutional amendment. Then, we are all screwed. I cannot see how any of this is fair. Aren't we hurting enough? First, the county sticks it to homeowners here when the prices went through the roof by raising our taxes through the roof. Now that they are dropping they still want to raise taxes. Enough is enough. If you are seriously thinking about moving and buying in Florida I suggest you check into the home's property tax issues before going through with the sale. Your tax can change dramatically from city to city with the purchase. Ask your realtor to guide you as to whom to talk to and be diligent about the research. But I want to thank our county appraiser, who is against it. It all starts at the top and that is with our governor and local elected officials. Contact them and let your voice be heard.
