“Property-tax appeals help the affluent” plus 3 more |
- Property-tax appeals help the affluent
- Property Tax Notices To be Mailed On Thursday
- Tax Bills In The Mail, Expect Increases
- Indian River property appraiser drops bid to tax Vero airport
| Property-tax appeals help the affluent Posted: 18 Aug 2010 03:27 AM PDT The annual tax notices going out this month will bring a double whammy of bad news for many Florida property owners — lower values and higher taxes. But a small minority will get a break by challenging the county's value of their homes, businesses and land. Tax appeals have been pouring into government offices throughout Florida, fueled by the real estate boom and crash and a highly profitable cottage industry of tax reps. So far this year, Broward and Palm Beach counties have reduced property values by more than $2.5 billion as a result of appeals. The process is available to all property owners, but only a tiny percentage typically file appeals. When they win, it means higher taxes, less government services or both for everyone else. In Orange County, less than 4 percent of property owners filed appeals last year, and less than 2 percent in Seminole, Osceola, Lake, Brevard and Volusia counties, but collectively they won over $804 million in value reductions for 2009. That shaved more than $12 million of tax income from county, city and school district coffers. The Fort Lauderdale Sun Sentinel performed an extensive analysis of appeals since 2006 and found the system favors high-end businesses and residences. Owners of homes and condos assessed at more than $1 million were four to five times more likely to get a reduction than owners of lower-priced homes. The co-founder of Mattress Giant, Richard Nilsen, challenged the county's $14 million value on his newly built Weston mansion in 2008 and got it cut in half. The change saved Nilsen $124,000 in property taxes. On the exclusive island of Palm Beach, the wife of disgraced Ponzi king Bernie Madoff got the value of her waterfront estate pared by 9 percent, saving more than $14,000 in taxes. Using a tax rep or agent generally improves the chances of winning an appeal. Hired to get the biggest reductions for their clients, reps often work for the well-to-do and charge up to 50 percent of any tax savings they win. The biggest agents file thousands of appeals every year. "The system was set up to correct errors, but the tax reps have turned this into a money-making operation," said Jeffrey Mann, an appraiser for the Broward County Property Appraiser. "They send out mass mailings, and it's become a big, big, big business." The stakes behind tax appeals have never been higher. Cities and counties depend on property tax revenue to pay for police, firefighters and other services. Many local governments already are battling budget deficits caused by plunging property values from the real estate decline. Property values are set by county property appraisers based on sales from the prior year and other factors such as location and size. The county does not inspect each property every year. Owners can challenge the assessed value and present evidence that their property is actually worth less. If the property appraiser does not agree to a reduction, hearings are held before special magistrates —– licensed real estate appraisers who are paid $90 an hour by county taxpayers. A disproportionate share of wealthy property owners use the system and, therefore, win more reductions, a review of appeals filed since 2006 found. "People with more expensive properties can bring to the table appraisal reports. They can bring expert witnesses with them. They'll hire attorneys," said Palm Beach County Property Appraiser Gary Nikolits. "It's just much harder to defend our values against those type of professionals." In Fort Lauderdale, a lawyer helped billionaire Wayne Huizenga, former owner of the Miami Dolphins, save about $125,000 in property taxes through appeals on the value of his estate on the New River and nearby vacant land that he bought for a family member. In Palm Beach, Ruth Madoff got a break because the lot on her estate was narrower than the county's records showed. An attorney for Madoff appealed in 2008, and the property appraiser agreed to a reduction of nearly $900,000 that December, a week before Bernie Madoff was arrested in the nation's largest Ponzi scheme. The system is skewed toward wealthy property owners because they have the resources to file appeals and know what it takes to make a good case, Nikolits said. Appeals also benefit owners of more modest homes, though they make less use of the system. In Broward, for instance, 5 percent of all homes and condos valued at less than $1 million sought reductions the past three years versus 37 percent of the multi-million dollar residences. Some of the biggest savings are on commercial properties. Many corporations file tax appeals every year as a routine course of business. In Central Florida, Sears Roebuck and Co. got a $123,000 total cut in property taxes for its stores in Fashion Square Mall, Florida Mall and West Oaks Mall. The owners of the new Dynetech skyscraper in downtown Orlando got $228,000 shaved from its 2009 taxes. The international research giant Siemens got its tax bill reduced by $289,000 on its east Orange County research park. The number of appeals in Central Florida has exploded in the past two years — fueled largely by the condominium-market collapse. Tax agents are bringing in petitions for hundreds of individual condo units at a time. In Orange, Osceola, Seminole, Lake, Brevard and Volusia counties, the combined total of appeals has more than tripled, from about 7,300 in 2006 to over 25,000 last year. For now, counties are bracing for more appeals — and more reductions — as the 2010 tax appeal deadline approaches in September. Sally Kestin can be reached at skestin@sunsentinel.com or 954-356-4510. Scott Powers can be reached at spowers@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5441. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
| Property Tax Notices To be Mailed On Thursday Posted: 17 Aug 2010 08:55 PM PDT Published: Tuesday, August 17, 2010 at 11:45 p.m. BARTOW | Polk County Property Appraiser Marsha Faux will mail TRIM notices Thursday to property owners to inform them of their estimated tax bill for next year. Faux's staff has produced a video to help people to understand the notices. It is available on Property Appraiser's web site www.polkpa.org and will be aired by PGTV, the School Board, and the City of Lakeland beginning Friday. For more information, call the Bartow office, 863-534-4777; the Lakeland office, 863-413-2549 or 2551; or the Winter Haven office, 863-401-2424 or 2425. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
| Tax Bills In The Mail, Expect Increases Posted: 18 Aug 2010 01:15 PM PDT FT. LAUDERDALE (CBS4) ―
Despite a year of record high foreclosure rates and a housing slump that's devalued the real estate market by more than 40 percent, expect increases in the tax rates, according to both Miami-Dade and Broward's Property Appraiser Offices. Tax Notices will be mailed out to Miami-Dade property owners next week. They will show that, on average, taxable value on property dropped 13.4 percent. To make up for the loss in revenue for lower values, the proposed tax rate will be increased slightly, on average, about 3 percent. In Broward, taxable value, on average, fell about 11.7 percent. During a budget workshop on Tuesday, county commissioners debated a property taxes increase by about five percent to try and make up for a projected budget shortfall. In addition to a tax increase, their also considering some service cut backs. Items on the block include cutting back library and park hours, not cleaning public buildings as much, decreased transit services while raising bus fares from $1.50 to $1.75 and closing the public parking garage downtown during non-business hours. In addition to the tax rate increase in Broward, approximately 150 workers would face layoffs; those who remaining could be forced to take up to five unpaid days off. While no vote was taken, the commission viewed it likely that there will be a take hike in the fall, the first time there's been an increase in the last twelve years, according to the Sun-Sentinel. So how would the increase break down dollar for dollar? Last year the total tentative rate, which included taxes for paying off debt, was roughly $538 for every $100 thousand in taxable property value. Under the proposal the rate would increase to about $567 per every $100 thousand of taxable property value. Those hit hardest by the increase would be longtime residents. Rates would stay the same or go down for about 65 percent of property owners. The next budget workshop will be held August 31st, then public hearings on the budget will be held in September before the final tax rate is set. Homeowner Soraya Campos of Miami Gardens says she can't believe the property taxes will be increased again because can't afford them any more, "It just doesn't make sense." She's planning on becoming another "walk away." She owes about eight thousand dollars in taxes and doesn't think her home is worth the amount it has been appraised at. Property owners in both Miami-Dade and Broward have until September 20th to appeal any changes to their property value.
Source: The Sun-Sentinel
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| Indian River property appraiser drops bid to tax Vero airport Posted: 18 Aug 2010 10:07 AM PDT VERO BEACH — Property Appraiser David Nolte has no plans to continue his legal quest to tax Vero Beach Municipal Airport property leased to private airplane owners, he said Tuesday. At issue is about $30,225 in taxes. In May, Florida's 4th District Court of Appeal turned down Nolte's appeal of a circuit judge's ruling that the airport property is tax exempt even if it is used for private purposes. However, the appeals court allowed for an appeal of its decision. Nolte said he won't pursue that. At the time of the lawsuit, the city-owned airport was earning up to $194,000 a year from leasing the 33 storage hangars involved in the case, said Airport Director Eric Menger. Now, the city has 47 hangars. Monthly rentals range from $417 to $1,200 depending on size, Menger said. The income helps support the airport, which is financially independent of the city. However, "that does not make that property a private business" for tax purposes said Menger, who cites the state Constitution as exempting the buildings from taxation. Nolte disagreed in 2009, saying, "It has to be used for tax-exempt purposes" to be exempt from county property taxes. The property appraiser took his civil case before Indian River Circuit Judge Robert Hawley, who on Jan. 20, 2009, sided with the city. Hawley pointed out that the city at the time had already spent $22,000 on defending itself against the lawsuit. The appeals court didn't comment on Nolte's appeal. It simply affirmed Hawley's decision. This is the second time Nolte unsuccessfully attempted to tax airport operations, Menger said. In 2008, Nolte's office lost an appeal of a court ruling that private companies doing maintenance and fueling at the airport are exempt from taxes. A state statute, said Menger, exempts such companies as Sun Aviation and Paris Air because they are performing services the city would have to otherwise perform. "That case went on for five years with court appeal after appeal," Menger said. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
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