I hate Florida! TAXES!!

[WILDMAN]

I just got my proposed property taxes on my mini storage property for this year. Now you would think a 10% increase would be bad enough in the current real estate market. 20% would really suck! Well, they want to increase mine $79%! What a bunch of crooks. They can't waste it fast enough now. Actually, my occupancy rate is down about 15%, which has never happened. I'm gonna call the tax assessors office Monday and ask them who's been smoking crack! F---in bastards!

[Raceman]

Randy, it's a wild grab for cash that tax assessors all over the country are in on now. I think they must have seminars on how to screw anybody who has assets out of em so they can give it to somebody that doesn't, or either just XXXX it away on their pet projects. My lakehouse was re evaluated 150K higher in 2004 and they went up over 200K MORE in 2006, and they've already said they'll re evaluate again in 2008. A group of us "concerned (read that as pissed off) tax payers" attended about a dozen county commission meetings in protest, as well as multiple meetings as a group and individually with the tax assessor. In the 2 counties that I've got property in I can say without a doubt that the IQ pool in both county commissions couldn't successfully run a corner hotdog stand.

In Georgia the current runaway train with NOBODY at the controls is county school boards. In addition to the county commissions setting tax mileage rates to run government, the schools set their own mileage rates to run schools, and their answer to EVERYTHING is to go and build yet another new building. Nevermind that this area of the state, and probably most all of the state for that matter has among the lowest test scores and graduation percentages in the nation, if they just build more 75 to 100 million dollar school facilities it'll somehow help. The school budgets are COMPLETELY out of control and nobody is even trying to reign em in. In my hometown, county population of somewhere around 150 thousand, there are 9 private schools and public schools have become little more than day care for minorities and the percentages of graduation are barely over 50 last time I saw a statistic, yet the school mileage rate runs over 50% of the total tax digest, and they continue to raise it every year or so.

Back to my lakehouse, in a nearby county, there've been people at the meetings crying and carrying on because they're at or near retirement and are having to sell their homes because they can't afford the taxes, which have increased in the triple digits percentage wise in the last 5 or 6 years. The best suggestion that I've heard is that everybody just says NO and holds back the tax payments and jambs the system up with tax forclosures.

All taxes that I can think of unfairly discriminate against the productive segment of the population, but property taxes are BY FAR the most unfair, given the fact that they reflect ONLY some tax assessor's perception of what the property is worth, and the owner has NO increase in usefulness or function because of this supposed increase. The only FAIR way to assess property would be if the purchase price became the value until the time it was sold, at which time it would be revalued.

[Redneck]

The county tax assessor here lives in a 7 bedroom, 6.5 bath 7000+ sq.ft. house with a 4 bedroom guest house, and it was appraised for $10,000. Only house in the neiborhood that is under half a mil. Why cant you just shoot crooks like that?

[Wile E. Coyote]

protest with the county, they will send out an appraiser and adjust your taxes accordingly.....hopefully....unfortunately you may need to get a lawyer involved....

[Redneck]

You will need a lawyer to do anything. I just bought my house, and the county is trying to say that the value has trippled in the last 6 months or so. I hate taxes.

[Raceman]

The county tax assessor here lives in a 7 bedroom, 6.5 bath 7000+ sq.ft. house with a 4 bedroom guest house, and it was appraised for $10,000. Only house in the neiborhood that is under half a mil. Why cant you just shoot crooks like that?

If that's true I would file an official complaint with the State Attorney General's office, and also get the local newpaper involved. That goes WAY PAST reasonable and directly into corruption.

[mendo]

Around here, most houses have gone down in value, some WAY down.

Like 3-40 percent!!

I find it hard to believe that some went up in this market.

[Redneck]

Property value isnt going up like that mendo, just what the tax assessor says its worth.

Raceman, too many key people get the same treatment, so I doubt its even worth going after. News knows, but dont do anything. The news wont report anything thats true anyways. Just the propaganda they want you to see.

[BUSHWACKER]

Fla "homestead exemption" is a big joke, and they screw over Vets real good here too. VA really sux here. I've got 8 new houses on the main road 2 are sold, 1 used one has been for sale forever. :mad:

[GPRACING]

Taxes here in SC are getting crazy to.It makes me sick.90% of it goes to the school system wich sucks anyway.I dont understand it.If you dont have kids or your kids go to private school why should you have to pay for a failing school system??At the end of the day you dont own anything.Dont believe me?Dont pay your property taxes and see who owns your house!Here in SC we have to property taxes on cars,trucks,boats motors etc.Buy a nice new 50k ride and youre going to have a nice $1500.00 tax bill that you have to pay if you want to get tags for it!What a scam!!I get taxed on my income,taxed on everything I buy,and taxed every year for everything I own meanwhile bridges are falling into rivers,the roads suck and are way to congested,the school systems suck!And some people want to put the goverment in control of our healthcare-now thats a bright idea!

[WILDMAN]

I just took a better look at the bill. Where they raised the value was on the land. They increased the value by 694%! In one year. No, I'm not kidding. They now have my property taxes at almost 25% of my total GROSS warehouse income BEFORE I pay ANY bills.

[Hot Shot Merc]

Guys Randy is right.If you dont live here or own property here then you probably dont understand how serious of a mess this is.There are legislative efforts going on to get this under control.The housing market here is a cluster f#&k!!!!Market values dropped like crazy last year but the taxes havent to compensate.Several years ago a house jumped in value from around $85,000 to nearly $200,000.over night!Taxes came up but didnt lower now that the market is saturated.

[WILDMAN]

I just looked up over 20 Mini Storage facilities on th count tax roles. 80% of them pay $1.35-$2.80 a square ft for taxes on the land alone. They are all on main highways. I'm on a little 25 mph residential side st. and they want $6.95 a sq. ft.! I'll take all these figuers to them and I'd think they'd have to re-figuer it.

[mr_velocity]

Its not just FL, NJ is just as bad but no one does anything about it. They did a reassessment 2 years ago here, my house went from $314K to $1.1M, there are condos around the corner that went from $70K to $400K. I now pay $1000 a month in prop taxes and we're looking at another 10% hit this year. :mad:

Good luck in your fight, don't give up!!!!

[StratosVT]

Taxes here in SC are getting crazy to.It makes me sick.90% of it goes to the school system wich sucks anyway.I dont understand it.If you dont have kids or your kids go to private school why should you have to pay for a failing school system??At the end of the day you dont own anything.Dont believe me?Dont pay your property taxes and see who owns your house!Here in SC we have to property taxes on cars,trucks,boats motors etc.Buy a nice new 50k ride and youre going to have a nice $1500.00 tax bill that you have to pay if you want to get tags for it!What a scam!!I get taxed on my income,taxed on everything I buy,and taxed every year for everything I own meanwhile bridges are falling into rivers,the roads suck and are way to congested,the school systems suck!And some people want to put the goverment in control of our healthcare-now thats a bright idea!


SC taxes suck! I lived in South Carolina for the first 28 years of my life. I miss a lot of things about the place but I don't think I'll ever have a primary residence there again. Like you said, they tax every single thing they can get away with. Now they have lottery money. With all of that revenue, you'd think there would be a better school system, government, healthcare, etc. Yet, SC still has about the worst school system in the country. The state and local governments are basically squandering their revenue and have nothing to show for it. No major corporations are based out of SC and I don't see it happening anytime soon. The big thing that I really do not understand is how there can be so many people relocating to the Charleston/Summerville/Mt. Pleasant areas. Where do these people work? ASFAIK, there aren't any large companies in the area so how can they afford to buy the houses in that inflated market? I know there are plenty of small businesses in the area but those companies couldn't possibly provide the large incomes that would be necessary to purchase all the $500k+ homes being sold. How this influx of people can survive is a huge mystery to me!:confused:

[afr]

I'm no expert on taxes/or government
but i know it has been going on for 200 plus years
and i see all the politicians are using the referral tricks to get what they want or need for themselves or there buddy Thur lobbyist or back doors
case in point (the senator from Alaska setting up a property deal for his buddy in cape coral fl / 10 million dollar road upgrade)
The sad thing is we all do it in business everyday
seems also that all the incumbents have this country in such a state of confusion and so many distraction's why because they are covering up something
and they seem like a bunch of rats leaving a sinking ship cobbling assets ready to head for the hills
its all a smoke screen there broke and dont want us to spend a dime
so they can find there escape route

[INXS]

No property taxes for 20 yrs, though that's for a home under 100K, on average you get 10 yrs for a 200K home which is quite a nice home. They pay about 1.2% when the abbaitment runs out, which comes to about 1,500-2,500K on average. In Greece you pay 18% sales tax on the home and then nothing after that, Greece can't build homes fast enough for the Brits, Americans, Germans and so on!

[afr]

you know a friend of mine just moved to panama
about a mouth ago
i homesteaded my place when we bought it but i don't think it really does anything for me
i don't know what the benefits are
it was pose to keep me taxes down is what i was told
but i think i got poped around double
the only kinda cool thing that happened was my insurance company left just up and left right before charlie
i never could get a deal and just quit shopping for insurance so i let the lender place the insurance now its not as much coverage as i could find but i dont have bs and if they up and pull out the lender has to have a new one right
so screw it let them work a little for there money

[euro scott]

dont even get me started on this subject, my taxes went from 6k when i bought this house to 14k now,i dont have any kids in school or ever see a mower or even the mosquita guy that gets $300 per year out of my taxes,
i think its time for a tea party ! one group in fla has doing something about and i would urge everyone from fl to join is


www.CutTaxesNow.com (http://www.CutTaxesNow.com)

and cut the crap of this runaway spending and stupid lazy gov waste of our money<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>

[BUSHWACKER]

dont even get me started on this subject, my taxes went from 6k when i bought this house to 14k now,i dont have any kids in school or ever see a mower or even the mosquita guy that gets $300 per year out of my taxes,
i think its time for a tea party ! one group in fla has doing something about and i would urge everyone from fl to join is


www.CutTaxesNow.com (http://www.CutTaxesNow.com)


and cut the crap of this runaway spending and stupid lazy gov waste of our moneyffice:office" /><O:p></O:p>


Glad you said it first this time not me :p Let's see if you get told to go home :rolleyes:

[rollin]

afr the 10 mil from that project was for an off ramp study for i-75.the town council with out any in put from anybody canceled the offramp idea. and kept the money.they all recieved raises.now f-dot has put a stop to all road projects in Lee co. until this is fixed. so doing anything that might take money out of the govs hands isnt going to happen until the whole country falls on its face.in roman times Rome fell from things that happened from within. this pisses me off I have to get off the subject now.

[INXS]

that will decide how far this tax crap goes. If you get one or two conservatives appointed then congress will be kepted in check and the consitution will be safe! Some in the goverment would love to see a 60% tax rate and total goverment control of your life. And please don't be stupid and think that the rich don't want higher taxes!!! It keeps a much higher burden on the middle class when it comes to there getting into the "Country Club"!
The rich loved the great depression, it cut a lot of people from joining there ranks!!! Money is power and the less competition for the rich the better off they are!
A top dem., who's a NJ state senator, once said that high taxes are good cause they drive out the rift-raft.

[afr]

yea pissis me off to rollin
at least they got out in the open but i have not heard any penalties or fines or nothing its been hush hush now
shoot ill do the study for them but first i get to fire all there

my father in law always told me to vote all incumbents out
he would say after one term they know how to steal
oh then i must be rif raf cause they are driving me out
if i could move out of state i would

[INXS]

yea pissis me off to rollin
at least they got out in the open but i have not heard any penalties or fines or nothing its been hush hush now
shoot ill do the study for them but first i get to fire all there

my father in law always told me to vote all incumbents out
he would say after one term they know how to steal
oh then i must be rif raf cause they are driving me out
if i could move out of state i would
Funny, really sadd, that it was a African American that said it! I guess that all those no-show jobs he held put him above us working rift-raft middle class NJ folks!

[rollin]

its funny how things work....I just got my new tax bill in the mail 5 min. ago. the market value went down $17000from last yr.my taxable value went up $2817.21 from last yr....how does that happen? I may not be a brain surgen but I can tell when I being f***ed. sorry about the strong words...

[INXS]

That's a cash cow with no burden on the school budget?????
Yea you need senior centers but most retirement communities supply there own club houses. How the hell can you have taxes going up????
Fiends of mine moved down Fla. yrs ago and were paying nearly nothing for for their property taxes!!!!
How much goverment, waste, do you have down there?????

[Scream And Fly]

Randy, I feel your pain. Believe me, I do. :mad:

[WILDMAN]

I called the appraisers office today. I told him I wanted a "hearing". He said "what's the problem. I told him that my land value was increased 696% on two properties. He says, no that can't be. I told him the value on just the land alone went from 89K to 649K. He said he needed to talk to the appraiser and would get back to me. I told him that the appraiser was probably out smoking crack! He did'nt laugh. I have'nt heard anything back yet.

[Dave S]

Going to get a lots worse. You have to take care of all those that can't carry their own fat butts down the lane of life but can make young ones just like them selves. You be fat targets with lots of goods to be taxed. Lower your tax target and move to a less taxy area. Sorry to have to tell you this.:( The only thing going to help is the comming crash, so get your ducks in a row.

[Matt Gent]

In FL, anyone who has non-homesteaded property, or people who have bought a home in the last 2-3 years, pay a disproportionate load of the taxes due to the "Save Our Homes" exemption passed in the 90s. The bulk of homeowners have this exemption, and their rate doesn't go up more than 3% a year. But since inflation of gov't spending goes up more than that, non home-steaded properties, or newly bought ones, have to make up the difference. The gov't just adjusts the millage rate until they get what they want/need in total, and anyone not homesteaded gets the rates jacked up.

Downside for homesteaded people is that the can't move without a huge increase in taxes, so it actually dampens real-estate transactions.

If the cap for the exemption was more than 3%, or if gov't spending was tied to the same level as the exemption, everything would have worked out fine.

The other game that is played is they convert everything into a fee instead of an ad-valorem tax. Huge chunks go to schools, fire, debt reduction, jails, etc, which are not controlled by the ad-valorem tax limits. This is also how most counties avoided big decreases with the latest "reform" passed by the legislature.

I actually got a little bit lucky that the market fell out before my place was assessed for taxes after being built, could have been worse. We also got a bonus year in there paying only for taxes on the lot since the house was finished just after the new year.

[delawarerick]

Matt are you saying that if we want to buy in Fl we are gonna take a big hit and even with making it a homestead we are screwed? I have wanted to move to Fl and now we are here renting at this time but had thoughts of buying should we wait and see what happens with the taxes? We were told the new govenor is working for the home owner trying to lower taxes. I came from De were there are basically no taxes ie no sales taxes no property taxes on cars and boats houses are real low example my 4200 ft house on 4 lots on the water is less the 1k ayear. thanks Rick

[WILDMAN]

Your Florida taxes will be based on the purchase price. Tax will be about $1000 for every $50,000

[delawarerick]

Do they offer relief in taxes for age. In other words when you turn 65 do they go down. In De at 65 taxes are reduced by 75% buy remember there is little interstructure in De. Rick

[mickeyjr]

Dothan, Alabama is looking better every day!

Still less than 2 hrs. from the beach and can earn the same wage, if not more and live for HALF of what takes to live here.

[Hydrophobic guy]

Like I've said before, we went to war with the British
primarily because of taxation without representation and
what was the tax rate that caused this........3% !!!!!!!
I'm paying total taxes of around 45% of my Gross.
It's time for another revolution.:mad:

[INXS]

Dothan, Alabama is looking better every day!

Still less than 2 hrs. from the beach and can earn the same wage, if not more and live for HALF of what takes to live here.

It's one the the top areas of growth from retirees. Cullman county and north of it is and great area. Get up in the mtns and you don't get as hot while you will get a colder winter it only last about three months. My sister & brother-in-law have a very large ranch house on three acres outside Hansville and only pay $400 a yr for taxes. Ala. also has a huge surplus do to all the companies moving there and it's oil leases.

[delawarerick]

HB I hear what you are saying we just came from No Va where the wife last assignment was and the taxes are some of the highest in the country. The county we where in is the highest. Yet there are pot holes in the streets but the county officals all drive new hybrids. Its BS taxes suk and nothing is being done about it. Rick

[INXS]

Like I've said before, we went to war with the British
primarily because of taxation without representation and
what was the tax rate that caused this........3% !!!!!!!
I'm paying total taxes of around 45% of my Gross.
It's time for another revolution.:mad:

Not too manny people look at how much of a difference there is in the tax bracket. If I retireed early I could be right in that sweat area of not paying much tax at all. But then I wouldn't be bringing in the big paychecks and taking nice vacations to Greece!:mad:
Seems I'm getting the shaft for busting my butt and working 30-40 hrs a week most of OT each summer just to set up my retirement years, I've got six more yrs before I reach 30 yrs and a nice pension. Anyway, seems that the more you work the more you get taxed! It wouldn't be bad if you had a flat rate.

[delawarerick]

If you purchase a second home before retirement dont you reap a tax benifit thats what we are looking at. Interest on the second home which could be the retirement home drops the tax bracket. Rick

[Raceman]

If you purchase a second home before retirement dont you reap a tax benifit thats what we are looking at. Interest on the second home which could be the retirement home drops the tax bracket. Rick

Not in Georgia. No tax break for retirees and no tax break for second home. It is true that second home mortgage interest is tax deductible as far as Federal Income Taxes go, but NO relief on property taxes, and can't even take homestead exemption on second home. What really sux is the out of control school tax. Around here most people have their kids in private schools because the public schools are ridiculous, and they STILL have to pay school tax on primary home AND second home.

[speedaholic]

Hey Randy, although it sounds like your getting a raw deal, Florida property tax in general is still considerably less than most other states. I have family and friends in NY that are paying in excess of $15K. And your estimate of $1000 for every $50K in value is probably close but the houses are typically undervalued. You can still buy homes here for $150Kto $200K and pay $2500 to $3000 in property taxes. Try finding a house in NY for that. And dont forget that there is no state income tax in florida and that adds up real fast. I still agree that taxes are getting out oh hand but dont feel its as bad in Fl as most other places. Ray

[Matt Gent]

Taxes were right what I budgeted, so its no impact for me, but they didn't go down like the legislature promised.

They typically value the home at about 80% of the market price. For example, ours was about $275k, assessed at $240, taxes are about $4500/yr.