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Hernando Today

Tax Rates Decline Or Stay Static, But Many Tax Bills Won't

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By TONY MARRERO

Hernando Today

Published: September 24, 2008

BROOKSVILLE - The tax bill cometh.
Property tax bills will hit mailboxes by Nov. 1, and all but one of the various agencies that contribute to your final property tax bill have finalized budgets and ad valorem rates.
All of those agencies, from the county to the school board to the city of Brooksville, either reduced rates or carried over last year's.
But tens of thousands of Hernando property owners hoping for property tax relief should brace now for bad news: A rule attached to the Save Our Homes benefit will cause many taxable values — and, in turn, property tax bills — to stay the same or even go up.
In the boom times, the so-called recapture rule went unnoticed, though it provided a big benefit. Over time, the Save Our Homes amendment, passed in 1992, provided significant savings to homeowners by limiting growth in taxable values to 3 percent a year or the rate of inflation, even when market prices were climbing in some cases by more than 20 percent each year.
Now, though, the market is going the other way. But under the provision, a home's taxable value still increases until it catches up with the market appraisal. The rule is meant to help local governments recapture some of the market value shielded from tax collectors by Save Our Homes.
So despite the property tax reform passed by the state Legislature, many tax bills will stay the same or increase, said Nick Nikkinen, director of special projects for the Hernando County Property Appraiser.
There are some 56,000 property owners who receive the Save Our Homes benefit. Of those, "a pretty significant majority" will be snared by the recapture rule, Nikkinen said.
The property appraiser included an explanation of the effect in the truth-in-millage notices, or TRIM, that went out last month.
"They still may not like it, but at least they understand that," Nikkinen said.
Legislators had considered tweaking the rule last year but worried that doing so would cripple local governments that would have to deal with tax limiting ad valorem rates, as well as the ramifications of Amendment 1.
Some lawmakers have vowed to address the rule next session.
If that happens, there's a better chance that 2009 would be the true year of the tax break, Nikkinen said. His office assesses properties in arrears, so the slide of property values that continued in 2008 will be reflected in next year's tax bills.

To come up with your tax bill, the various rates that apply to the location of your property are added together to come up with a tax rate.
A few examples:
* A Ridge Manor resident's tax bill would include: the county's rate; the county's emergency services rate; the school board rate; and the Southwest Florida Water Management District's general rate and whichever of the two basin board rates that apply.
* A Brooksville resident would pay the city's rate; the county's rate; the school board rate; and the Swiftmud rate.
* And a Spring Hill resident would pay the county rate, the Spring Hill Fire rate, the school board rate and the Swiftmud rate.

Reporter Tony Marrero can be reached at 352-544-5286 or lmarrero@hernandotoday.com.

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