Don't Forget About Property Tax Reform

Charlie Crist Just Passed The Homeowners Insurance Bill. Now What About Property Tax Reform?

Now that Charlie Crist has signed the Homeowners Insurance Bill we can start to look at another pressing problem in the high Property Taxes. First let me summarize the Insurance Relief Bill. On the average all homeowners upon their renewal should be reduced approximately 22%. Homeowners who have Citizen’s Property Insurance shall get immediate relief as rates that were supposed to go up as much as 77% will be frozen and you will pay 2006’s Citizen’s rates. Most of us will not see reductions in our insurance until after June 1, 2007 or later.

One of the most integral parts of the Insurance Bill that does not seem to get much press is the fact that if our lender allows it or you do not have a mortgage you may now be able to “un-bundle” the windstorm insurance from the hazard and fire/theft insurances if your home is located west of I-95. Before, even if you did not want windstorm insurance or if your lender did not require it you had to purchase windstorm as insurance companies would not sell Hazard. Fire, and Theft insurance without Windstorm insurance. Insurance companies called that “bundling”. You might want to check with your lender to see if your lender requires windstorm insurance. If you are allowed to and decide to forego your windstorm insurance realize it is a risk, but it would save you about half of your policy.

The Homeowners Insurance Relief Bill was needed to help keep these insurance companies accountable and for homeowners to receive more affordable insurance. Now we need Property Tax Reform to decrease our out of control Property Taxes. I along with some of the most influential real estate and business practitioners have come up with a proposal. First let me tell you that the only way to decrease property taxes is to decrease the mileage rate. The mileage rate is that rate which gets multiplied by the assessed value to come up with the ad valorem property tax that you owe. Our proposal is to decrease the mileage rate to 1%. In Boca Raton the mileage rate is slightly above 2% which is the lowest in Palm Beach County. By doing this it will essentially cut our property taxes in half. However, if we are getting half of the property tax revenue we will have to get the revenue lost from somewhere and we would propose a half cent sales tax hike. By doing this it will give Florida homeowners a break in property taxes and instead of people moving out of the state to places like Georgia and North Carolina they will stay put and more people will again be moving to Florida. Keep your eyes and ears out for this proposal. If you have any questions about this proposal and the Insurance Relief Bill you may call me at 561-756-3104.