[pianogal]

I sent this to Senator Haridopolis and plan to forward it all the other senators on the Committee of Finance and Tax as well as my local representatives/senators.

Mr. Haridopolos,

We need your help…REAL help. Our story in shortened form:



We moved to Florida in 1984 and purchased a home in Seminole County. In 2001 we had to move my husband’s elderly mother in with us. After several years of dealing with her mobility issues in our old home, we decided to sell our home and buy one where she could be more mobile.



We sold our Seminole County home in November of 2004 for $190,000 and purchased another in Orlando in January of 2005 for $241,000. Notice there was ONLY 50K difference in the value of the homes – however our property taxes quadrupled from $1,000 a year to $4800 a year (2006)!



Since we moved in January of 2005, we didn’t qualify for homestead until 2006 and didn’t qualify for SOH until this year – 2007. In the meantime the city of Orlando has increased our assessed value incredibly – from $221,00 (2005) to $274,000 (this amount did include a pool we added) (2006) to $372,000 (2007)!



The idea of portability is great – but are you going to make it retroactive? I lived in Florida for 17 years and moved 2 years ago and lost my SOH – how will the current Senate plan help me? Moving taxes back to 2005 – 2006 when the values went through the roof is a joke! Portability may have been a wonderful blessing for us then – now it’s no help at all unless you devise a plan to make it retroactive. I can’t imagine how you could do that fairly.



I like the idea of the sales tax even better. I think it is more evenly distributed throughout the people of Florida. It is not just homeowners who use the schools and services of the cities/counties. Why should we be the main ones paying for them?



Thank you for seeing the great need of the people of Florida. I would love to remain a Florida resident but cannot continue under the current conditions. Many of us are waiting to see what happens this year. If things don’t change there will be many more of us families, who are teachers, policeman, firemen, etc. who will be priced out of Florida.

I think when I post this note to the other senators, I'm going to add a sentence about SOH, which I think is flawed anyway. There is no way it will work long term even if it becomes portable. It is completely inequitable and unfair to all the people of Florida for the new residents to subsidize schools and services so the residents who have lived here the longest don't have to pay their share.

[sunrico90]

Pianogal,

If they receive many complains and you mention don't count with my vote, they will think about it and start working the issue. Forward to GOV Chris, see if you get a reply.

The only bad thing is that they have admin support reviewing the e-mail traffic and sometimes they accidentally delete the negative ones or the ones that challenge the logic. I do hope that they reply....

[Jammie]

Pianogal, I'm very proud of you. That's an excellent letter and hopefully at least someone in charge will read it. You never know if you don't try, right?

[pslOldTimer]

Excellent letter, and I agree with everything you said, except this:

Originally Posted by pianogal

...It is not just homeowners who use the schools and services of the cities/counties. Why should we be the main ones paying for them?

You aren't. Renters pay an even higher property tax that homeowners, they just pay it indirectly. The houses they rent are taxed; the landlord pays the tax and passes it on to the tenants in the form of increased rent. You don't think the landlord pays the taxes out of the goodness of his heart, do you? However, remember that the landlord never qualifies for homestead or Save Our Homes, so his taxes are paid on a $25,000 higher valuation in the first place, and the taxes go up like yours did before you qualified for SOH -- but they continue to do so every year. Therefore, the renter is actually paying a much greater share of property taxes than you are.

Sales taxes have nothing to do with government services by local cities. Do you trust the state to give it back to the local governments fairly?

[hiknapster]

Yes! PSL!

I love ya, Pianogal, but this is sooo true. Renters will still pay.

Up here in Tennessee, there is a a 9.25 sales tax. It is on everything, including ALL groceries.

Since we are "middle income" we would get back a state income tax, but they don't have that here. But man, they hit us hard every time we go to the grocery store.

[pianogal]

Thanks for the input from all our you. OldTimer - I know what you mean about the state giving the tax back to the local area. At first our local government was screaming, but then it was reported on the local Orlando news that there was a provision in the bill stating that all the monies collected on the extra sales tax to go to the local taxing authority..i.e. city or county. After that I heard no more crying from our local officials because we collect mega sales taxes due to tourism. BUT I did hear that while Orlando and larger areas would benefit from this, smaller cites and counties would not be able to make up the difference.

Hiknapster, I understand what you are saying, but we don't pay sales tax on food here. We already pay huge amounts of hidden tax in utility bills, etc. - ....here's just a short, incomplete list off the top of my head......

These figures are added TAXES not the complete bill......

MONTHLY
Cell Phone $20.00
House Phone $17.00
Utility Bill $50-60.00
Gas .26-.30 PER Gallon
According to Florida Tax Watch.... Depending on the county you live in, state and local fuel taxes can be as high as 30.1 cents per gallon. The statewide average is over 26 cents per gallon. Despite some reports to the contrary, Florida's state and local taxes on motor fuels are among the very highest in the nation.

There's also the cable bill, water bill, etc. I just don't remember the figures for those.

My point is that what I would pay for sales tax would be far, far below what I currently pay for property tax and EVERYONE would share that burden equally. It would also make it more equitable because I would not be subsidizing my neighbor, since I pay 5K a year in taxes and he pays 1K for a similar home.

[pslOldTimer]

Originally Posted by pianogal

My point is that what I would pay for sales tax would be far, far below what I currently pay for property tax and EVERYONE would share that burden equally. It would also make it more equitable because I would not be subsidizing my neighbor, since I pay 5K a year in taxes and he pays 1K for a similar home.

That is the fault of the Save Our Homes boondoggle, and only a rollback of that will solve it. I agree, it is absolutely inequitable. The only way to avoid it is to NOT make any home purchases or extensive remodeling, and that will ultimately wreck the state's economy. People are being rewarded for contributing nothing.

Any law that fools around with the situation even more, such as the sales tax thing or any other monkeying around, will only make the situation worse. For those who don't believe me, I said the same thing about the SOH before it passed, and I was right, then.