Property values, tax bills decline

[RockaFowler]

Palm Beach County's property appraiser mailed more than 620,000 property tax notices on Tuesday, and the preliminary bills show two things homeowners haven't seen in years: falling values and falling tax bills.

Of the 620,647 residential and commercial properties in Palm Beach County, 59 percent are worth less this year than last, said John Thomas, assistant director of residential appraisal services at the property appraiser's office.

SNIP

For longtime homeowners with homestead exemptions, the drop in market value will have no effect on their tax bills. That's because the Save Our Homes amendment to the state constitution allows homes' taxable values to rise 3 percent a year even if the market value falls, as long as the taxable value remains less than the market value.

But a property tax cut that state lawmakers mandated in June is creating savings for homeowners. The property appraiser's office hadn't calculated the average tax cut on Tuesday, but a recent Florida TaxWatch Inc. study predicted the cuts would be worth $174 for the typical homesteaded property.

Although most home values fell in Palm Beach County, high-end properties still rose in value. In one high-profile example, the oceanfront mansion billionaire Donald Trump is marketing for $125 million was appraised at $58.2 million this year, up from $56 million last year, a 4 percent increase.

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/business/content/business/epaper/2007/08/22/w1a_PROP_TAXES_0822.html

We received our tax bill yesterday in the mail - $3500. I live in St Lucie County and I paid less for my house than if I would have purchased in Palm Beach County, yet I am paying more in taxes. Go Figure! Where exactly is this supposed "Tax Cut" that we were promised. Oh yeah and the appraised value of my home went from $191,000 last year to $185,000 this year.

[Mojorabbit]

1. I am in Orange county

and they came and reappraised my house this month and added 1000$ to my tax bill. I haven't seen a cut either.

[nosillies]

2. Taxes dropped slightly for me, but appraised value dropped greatly

My taxes dropped $2000, but they're still at $4500.

My house value dropped $10,000 and it's now at $60,000 less than what we payed for it only two years ago. Nobody has bothered to actually come and do a real appraisal, though. Our house is oh-so-conveniently appraised at the same price that the two houses up for sale in our neighborhood are listed for.

[RockaFowler]

3. WOW - $2000 drop in taxes is great

But . . . the appraisals are off by quite a bit around our county (as well as Palm Beach). I believe the mess we are all in right now is due to the Property Appraisers over-valuing all homes. Then, those of us that went looking for houses last year could not even get a correct view of the property values. For example, the house we purchased was listed at $239,900. We saw that the person who owned the house had lived there since 1989 and purchased it for $89,000. The Property Appraiser had the house at $191,000, so we put our first bid in at $198,000. It eventually ended at the $215,000 that we purchased it for, but today it's not worth that amount. It really isn't fair to those of us that were just trying to better ourselves. I'm not moving anytime soon, because we love the house. But, how much lower can it get??

[DawnneOBTS]

4. I live in Volusia, and...

...I think (if my family and I read it right) the taxes will be what they were when we bought the house in early 2003, since they devalued the house back to that price-it was way overvalued, we were paying over $3000 for a bungalow. I know that beachside values went down (my mother thinks because of the hurricanes) but prices on the mainland pretty much stayed the same.

[nosillies]

5. Hi neighbor!

I'm in PO.:hi: