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Pick Your Scenario In Property Tax Plan

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By JEROME R. STOCKFISCH, The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 14, 2007

TALLAHASSEE - A widow wants to downsize from the $250,000 home she has lived in for decades to a $200,000 abode. Then she learns her tax bill would jump from $1,500 a year to $3,500 a year.

That fictional example is just one of the inequities of the Florida property tax system. But it's a problem lawmakers are attempting to fix with a new overhaul being debated in a special legislative session this week.

Under the new plan, the widow might keep her tax bill about the same in the downsizing scenario. That's one of the benefits of 'portability,' or the right to take the Save Our Homes benefit accrued over the years along with you when you move.
Portability and a doubling of the existing $25,000 homestead exemption are keys to the overhaul proposed by Gov. Charlie Crist and generally agreed to by the Legislature.

To see how the proposed legislation might affect your pocketbook, determine which of the following scenarios most closely matches yours:

•A single man with no Save Our Homes benefit who is staying put.

•A family in a house since the early 1990s now looking for a larger home.

•A widow in a house for decades looking to downsize.

•A young couple in a house since 2002 now seeking a larger home.

•A widow in a house since 2002 looking to downsize.

•A newlywed couple moving into their first home.

•A couple who own a motel on the beach.

Next step? Turn to page 5.

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