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The County Commissioners got an ear full last night about the tax increase- but it seems most of the commissioners are out of touch with the people.
Remember - even if you rent this will effect you.
The landlord will have additional expenses to pass along & Business will have to raise rates to cover the additional tax burden.

Here is an article about the meeting from the Democrat
http://tallahassee.com/apps/pbcs.dll/ar ... 30369/1010
There are going to be additional meetings Sept. 2 and 16th

Here is a short article put out by the Tallahassee Board Of Realtors:

On July 8th a vote was taken by the county commissioners, and a proposal passed by majority vote to raise local millage rates in Leon County by 16+% .The funds from this tax increase are supposed to be earmarked for future library improvements and a pay raise for county workers.

“The more than 22 million ADDITIONAL dollars which will be raised by the 18.6% increase will be spent as follows: 5.2 million for the Lake Jackson Library, 6.6 million for the Woodville library, 6.3 million for the SE library and 2 million for a new park. In addition, the county has lifted the hiring freeze, reinstituted travel expenses, and given county employees a 3.9% raise.
Remember, last year ad valorem taxes accounted for $118,176,174 with a millage rate of 7.213. This year’s proposed 8.88 millage rate will bring in $140,215,209."
Peggy Munroe, North East Business Association

In this already unstable housing market and the economically struggling business environment that we are in, this is the last thing that our industry, and those we represent need at this time.

Hopefully you have heard of this, but many have not, thus the call. Our commissioners took this vote and there has been no real public input. Now is your chance. So far the only opponent on the commission is Commissioner Ed DePuy. We need to show our opposition to this increased assessment.

Is this the answer - tax increases - when we just passed Amendment 1 to effect a tax decrease? In 2007/2008, and roll back occurred; now a huge overcompensation is about to hit every homeowner, business owner and every already anxious home-buyer that you have. It will affect every single one of us in a negative way.


Please Take time to write of call your county commissioner.

I wish that everytime I needed more revenue I could just increase my prices and force customers to pay it. That works so much better than just being responsible with the finances you have You got to love it when you even have commissioners (Parwez Alam)admitting they are paid too much for what they do

This is the quote that kills me...
Commissioner Cliff Thaell explains, "We have got to for the safety and health and welfare of our citizens, gotta make sure that we provide the kind of safety provisions in roads, in law enforcement, in fire, ambulance, etc."

Then we see that the "18.6% increase will be spent as follows: 5.2 million for the Lake Jackson Library, 6.6 million for the Woodville library, 6.3 million for the SE library and 2 million for a new park"
That is 20.1 million is going for updating libraries and a park.

BWB

Thanks for the update Bman

It might make one feel better to think that the increase was actually going to benefit the public service sector in the realm of protection and emergency services. Hard to believe that elected officials can seem so naive at times and oblivious to the concerns of citizens. Libraries are wonderful parts of society, but not hardly as essential as the emergency services and transportation sectors. Scary.

Nothing like that happens in Georgia. (yeah right) We just like to hog water! That stinks, especially when you don't have much say so in the matter.

Flint River Pirate wrote:Nothing like that happens in Georgia. (yeah right) We just like to hog water! That stinks, especially when you don't have much say so in the matter.

The irony is, property taxes in GA are close to the same if not higher than in florida, and they have a state income tax. They just havent been told they should be mad yet. And of course, you gugy s didnt have the inequities caused by the last knee jerk property tax amendment - save our homes- to deal with.

And of course we have a say so in the matter. We (the citizens of the state) voted in the very poorly thought out amendment that we (the citizens of the state) insisted on, and now the county commissioners the we (the citizens of leon county) voted in are acting fully within the limits set by this poorly written amendment. All for the loss of a tax savings of $180 a year, before you consider you federal tax implications (25,000 x 7.213 mils). We do have recourse, vote them out if you dont like it.

The impact on average home owners is negligble. Its businesses and large homes that are going to bare the brunt of this, but even then, its peanuts compared to what insurnace premiums have done to both groups, and its deductable on federal taxes which helps to minimize the impact a bit.

Yep, what GR said

I feel your pain...but I we have already gone through this...they filed suit with the state...which was nothing much....people bitched enough that they reduced it some....the only thing that made it palatable was that they lowered the appraised value as well...we actually got a reduction in our taxes. Our appraised values increased by two to three times there value in 2004/2005 time frame...But if you were a second home owner or couldn't homestead you took it in the shorts

So on top of over priced housing, we have high taxes too....price you pay to live in paradise

grim reeler wrote:The irony is, property taxes in GA are close to the same if not higher than in florida,

Wrong

Barhopr wrote:

grim reeler wrote:The irony is, property taxes in GA are close to the same if not higher than in florida,

Wrong

Grim Reeler, we aren't that high! And I understand that your elected officials have made the decision for you but it sounds like you disagree with your elected officials in this situation. Therefore you can't do much about it except complain. Yes, you can vote them out........ but after the damage is done. I hate it for Leon County residents because it really does not seem fair.

DON'T JUST COMPLAIN! THERE IS SOMETHING YOU CAN DO...

Write your county commissioner and let them know this is unacceptable!
They need to hear from you and understand their job is on the line.

Show up to the September meetings and bring a sign that says what you think

Flint River Pirate wrote:

Barhopr wrote:

grim reeler wrote:The irony is, property taxes in GA are close to the same if not higher than in florida,

Wrong

Grim Reeler, we aren't that high!

Leon county's millage rate is 7.213.

Albany's is 9.157.

GA also has a lower homestead amount.



The problem in florida wasnt the tax rates. It was insurance rates and it was the assessed values of homes, which no complained about when they sold their houses for substantial profits (I didnt). They didnt complain when they bought new houses and sheltered their profits from income taxes, they didnt complain when they read the loan disclosures on their new mortgages that stated what the tax payment would be, and for the most part they didnt complain when they made their house payments, including the part that went to escrow to cover taxes. Most people complained when they were told by our politicians that they should be mad. A tax cut was waved in front of our faces and we, as a state, took the bait.

Amendment 1 was so poorly conceived that its sponsers tried to have it pulled. They no longer wanted to be associated with it. They knew that in order to get it thru the legislature, it had been compromised to the point that it was no longer meaningful and would lead to situations just like this current debate. Most of the inequities that did exist before amendment 1 were created by the last property tax reform - save our homes. You had neighbors in similar houses paying much different tax bills based soley on how long they had lived there.

I am all for meaningful tax reform. It is a good exercise for government to take long hard looks at their expenditures and for the public disclosures that follow. I was not for the state government usurping the municpalities authority and ability to make these decisions for themselves. Florida counties are vastly different from one end of the state to the other. There isnt a one size fits all solution. When you try to make one, you get messes like this.

Good point Grim Reeler.