Interesting news about our property taxes

I recieved this very useful piece of information as an e-mail from Rich Strell of NEAR

"If you think your property taxes are too high, you should find this email to be good news. This past Tuesdayąs Miami Neighborhoods United meeting at Simpson Park was an open meeting with Pedro Garcia, the first elected property appraiser for Miami Dade County. Mr. Garcia was engaging and forthcoming with interesting information. Hereąs some key highlights: A discussion took place regarding duplex condos. According to Ms. Beba Mann (who is a candidate for the Miami City Commission in District 3), the city attorney confirmed her suspicion that the city had been illegally allowing łMcMansion˛ duplexes in the Grove and other areas of the city to be turned into 2-unit condos. Mr. Garcia said it is up to the city to enforce its own zoning. Once the duplex has been registered as a condo he has no choice but to do the assessment. Overall, we can expect property assessments to be significantly lower this year. Preliminary assessments are supposed to be sent out around June 1. The property appraiser does NOT use foreclosures as comparables for appraisals. The state department of revenue does not allow it. However, he DOES use short sales as comparables. Important note: The property appraiser does NOT set taxes, only the assessed value. It is then up to the governing body (the city, county, school board, etc.) to set the millage rate, which then determines your taxes. ( A quick side lesson on the millage rate: By state law, the maximum millage rate is 10. (This is the same as 1%. Millage means Śper thousandą, as opposed to percentage, which means Śper hundredą). So, if your property is assessed at $500,000 the maximum property tax that the city, county and school board could charge would be 10/1000, or (1/100), which comes out to $5,000 each. However, it is very important to know that the maximum millage rate of 10 only applies to property assessments, and that cities and counties have been using a trick for a number of years to circumvent the millage cap; they charge łfees˛. Examples include a solid waste fee and the infamous fire fee. Also, if you live in a special taxing district, perhaps to pay a security guard, that would be a separate fee. ) There is a controversy regarding whether a homeowner of a residential-zoned duplex, triplex or quad, who lives in the building, is allowed to have homestead exemption on the entire building and not only his/her half, third or fourth. This issue is currently being litigated. In the past, if a homeowner had a disagreement with his/her property assessment, it was up to the homeowner to prove the county was wrong. Beginning in 2010, the county must prove their assessment is correct. (The burden of proof is shifted to the county.) Once you receive your property tax assessment, you have 25 days to file any disagreement with the Value Adjustment Board. 55% of the people who go before the Value Adjustment Board win. In 2010 there will also begin a 5% cap on assessment increases on non-homestead property. Income property will be assessed using the income approach. The 3% cap on increases for homesteaded property has another limitation that many people are not aware of: Your property assessment can only go up 3% OR whatever the increase was in the consumer price index, whichever is lower. This past year the CPI was 0.1%. Mr. Garcia thinks many people will be quite pleased with their property assessments when they come out this year. On the other hand, you can expect the city, county and school board to either raise the millage rate closer to the cap of 10, raise Śfeesą, cut their budgets, or any combination of the three. For more information, please see the Property Appraiserąs website: http://www.miamidade.gov/PA/ -- Elvis Cruz Secretary, Miami Neighborhoods United 631 NE 57 Street Miami, Florida 33137 (305) 754-1420 ElvisCruz@mac.com "