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Hernando Today

Property Tax Notices Go Out

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By MICHAEL D. BATES

Hernando Today

Published: August 21, 2008

BROOKSVILLE - To say that David Miesch of Brooksville was upset when he received his property tax notice in the mail Tuesday is an understatement.

"I'm a ticked-off taxpayer," Miesch said.

Miesch is one of thousands of residents who will be getting their Truth in Millage (TRIM) notices from Property Appraiser Alvin Mazourek's office this week. The millage rate is the rate at which property taxes are levied on property.

This year, Miesch was expecting his taxes to drop significantly because of Amendment 1, that doubled the homestead exemption for many.

Instead, Miesch said his property taxes went down less than $10, assuming no budget changes are made. If there are changes, the notice said he will realize a reduction of a couple hundred dollars.

"It's difficult for people to understand," Miesch said of the tax bill. "When you're expecting a double homestead exemption, you're expecting values to fall."

Miesch admitted the notice - which contains a different format - is confusing and called the property appraiser's office for answers.

He's not alone.

"We are getting calls from people wanting an explanation," Mazourek said.

Mazourek included a flyer with this year's notices explaining the new format and how the process works.

Anticipating taxpayers' questions concerning why their property taxes did not fall as dramatically as they thought, Mazourek said in the flyer that the additional homestead exemption only fully applies to assessed values over $74,999 and does not apply to the school board.

Also, if a person has a "Save Our Homes" differential, the assessed value increased 3 percent this year.

The TRIM notice has separate columns formarket value and assessed value. If a property has a homestead exemption, it is possible that both values can be different because of the "Save Our Homes" assessment limitation.

Both values must be calculated and maintained because the market value of the property may increase at a greater rate than the assessed value.

For example, if a house is assessed at $100,000 and sales in that neighborhood indicate property values are increasing by 10 percent, the market value of the home for the following year will be $110,000, providing there is a homestead exemption.

However, if the property is covered by "Save Our Homes" and can only increase 3 percent, the assessed value will be $103,000.

People who don't agree with the market value appearing on their notice can call the property appraiser's office at 754-4190.

Meanwhile, the Florida Supreme Court is slated to hear oral arguments Sept. 8 on the fate of Amendment 5.

The amendment could potentially decrease property taxes from 25 to 40 percent.

The proposal was to be on the Nov. 5 ballot but was pulled following a U.S. Circuit Court judge's ruling.

Reporter Michael D. Bates can be reached at 352-544-5290 or mbates@hernandotoday.com.

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