Property taxes are a big issue in Florida and, no matter whom you voted for in the race for governor, be glad that Charlie Crist lived up to his campaign promises and has offered some significant reform for Florida and our property taxes.

When I first started selling homes in 1998. taxes and insurance were affordable. Since then property values in South Florida have skyrocketed and taxes have skyrocketed along with them. Insurance prices went through the roof as well causing a big problem for Florida homeowners.

Several years ago we considered selling our home in Hollywood Hills and purchasing a home in Emerald Hills on the golf course. The price of the home would have been manageable for us, but because the tax laws at the time would have caused us to lose the tax advantages of prior home ownership if we purchased a new home, we were unable to make the move. The hugely increased taxes made it impossible!

Thank goodness the new tax bill has taken away this problem. Tax portability has made it possible for people to sell their existing homes and move up, or down and not be treated as new buyers; they can actually take their tax base with them. Since it can be confusing, I will list an example below:

Old Home

$350,000 Just Value (Market Value-cost of sale, i.e. commissions)
-$250,000 Assessed Value (Just Value-SOH Cap Differential)
=$100,000 Cap Differential

New Purchase

$500,000 Just Value
-$100,000 Portability
=$400,000 Assessed Value
-$50,000 Homestead Exemption
=$350,000 Taxable Value

So instead of paying taxes on a $500,000 purchase, you are paying taxes on a $350,000 purchase, which is a huge difference annually!

You have two years after the sale to buy a new home and apply portability.

The other big change is the homestead exemption doubling from $25,000 to $50,000.

This is true in all 67 counties in Florida and the hope is that it will stimulate people who felt “locked in” to their homes, as I did, to go ahead and either upsize or downsize and not have to be concerned with the tax ramifications.

In Broward County our property appraiser, Lori Parrish, has done a great job of making their website www.bcpa.net user friendly and she is always available to answer questions via email herself.

This may not solve the whole problem of property taxes, but it certainly is a big step in the right direction!