I was amused by Fred Grimm’s column today,Tax advantage like a beloved family member. He describes how he makes believe he cares about his Canadian neighbor’s tax bill (when selfishly he doesn’t want to give up his Homestead tax advantage). He is right, we want to be fair, but why should we give up our 3% cap on property taxes — even if it is unfair for our neighbors who don’t have the cap and pay whopping tax bills?
Here is my novel idea: Cap everyone at 3%. Or even 4% and give people portability so they can move. The government was willing to trade sales tax for property tax so why not just cap us all? The government just wastes the extra money it gets from non-homesteaders anyway. Portability means you can take your "Save our Homes" tax rate with you when you move (example: If you are living in a $400,000 home paying $3,000 taxes -- your new home would be taxed at $3,000 up to that $400,000).
1 comment:
This is a big problem even in CA where they have had years of experience of working with prop 13. The true solution is to work towards a more equatable solution like a progressive income tax and not have to rely upon property and sales taxes like MA. With increasing numbers of middle class people and retirees moving out of FL maybe it is better for FL to take the CA approach to economic development instead of the Ole Miss one.
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