Just Got Back From Early Voting in Florida and The GOP Plan is Working....

[whopis01]

59. Amendment 4 is one of the worst ones on the ballot

It allows real estate investors to have the assessed value of their property limited to increasing by no more than 5% a year.

A similar rule exists for homestead properties (the house you own and live in) - but that is intended to make sure rising property values don't increase the tax on your home to the point you can't afford it anymore.

To implement this on commercial investment property at a time when property values are at their lowest in over a decade is a thinly veiled attempt to make sure investors won't have to pay taxes as property values stabilize and rise.

This will mean that an investor can come in, buy a foreclosed home, lock in low taxes and keep it that way for years. With no state income tax in Florida the funding for counties, cities, and schools comes primarily from property tax. This amendment will ensure that the funding crisis that Florida is in now will continue indefinitely.

I am sure that for someone in the real estate business this represents a growth opportunity. But for the rest of the residents of the state this is a ball and chain designed to keep the state poor for years to come.

The advertising in support of this amendment has been deceptive. It claims it will keep your property taxes low - if you already own your house it will do nothing for you. It is targeted towards benefiting investors buying up properties at rock bottom rates. Targeted towards those with cash in their pockets while others are being thrown out of their homes.

If it has any effect on the taxes for existing home owners it will be to increase them. When the counties and cities are forced to raise the mileage rate because of artificially depressed assessments on commercial properties existing home owners will see their tax burden increase. It will be a shift of tax burden from investors to single home owners.