Portability Tax Break

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) -- Sept. 21, 2006 -- A county official who spearheaded a
petition drive that gave homeowners a property tax break in 1992 announced
plans Wednesday for another citizens initiative in 2008 to let taxpayers
take that benefit with them if they move.

The proposal would add ''portability'' to the Florida Constitution's Save
Our Homes amendment, said Lee County Property Appraiser Ken Wilkinson of
Fort Myers.

He announced the new initiative during a meeting of Gov. Jeb Bush's Property
Tax Reform Committee. The panel's tasks include making recommendations on
how to resolve inequities that have resulted from Save Our Homes.

The new initiative is intended to address one of those. Under the existing
amendment, homeowners lose their tax break if they move. Many homeowners
have complained they feel trapped in their old homes.

Several measures were introduced in the Legislature earlier this year to let
homeowners take the tax break with them but none were approved.

''As the Florida Legislature has not come forth with a viable solution, we
have written another citizens initiative, which will allow Florida
homesteaders the portability of some of the Save Our Homes savings if they
move within Florida,'' Wilkinson said in a statement.

The amendment now caps property tax increases for homeowners at 3 percent
per year or the percentage that the Consumer Price Index has gone up,
whichever is less.

The new proposal would allow a resident to apply the cap to a new home
anywhere in Florida, but it would be limited to the percentage of the old
house's market value represented by its taxable value.

That means if a homeowner pays tax on only half of the market value of his
old home, he also would pay half on the new home. The tax break, however,
could not exceed $400,000 of assessed value.

Save Our Homes Portability, a not-for-profit corporation, has been formed to
gather more than 600,000 signatures needed to get the proposal on the
ballot.

Its directors include state Sen. Burt Saunders, R-Naples, who introduced one
of the legislative measures. He said he will try again next year. If
lawmakers agree to put something on the ballot that is satisfactory, the
petition drive could be discontinued.

Posted by Donald Urschalitz P.A. at September 25, 2006 01:04 PM