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January 28th, 2008 12:33 AM

Written by Fred Hintenberger, P.A. exclusively for MyEhomes.com

You cannot afford to ignore this message if you are a property owner or a business owner in the state of Florida. Opponents of this plan believe it will reduce funds for public education and public services but the truth is that it will have the opposite effect and it will increase revenues for those services. You can expect property values to diminish at an accelerated rate if this amendment does not pass. Property values will decrease by at least 40k on average, which means that the real estate taxable assessed values will also be reduced by that amount. Don't you think a 40k reduction in taxable value is greater than a 25k tax exemption. Lower property values will produce lower tax revenues. Passage of this amendment is critical to the future of Florida and it will put money back into the hands of most Florida property owners. It will also help stimulate the sluggish housing market and stabilize the falling real estate prices. It does not provide the comprehensive tax relief that is necessary and it is not the best possible solution; it's simply a step in the right direction and it is a lot better than nothing. The next step would be to pass an amendment that would raise the homestead exemption by at least $100,000 for newer home owners and small businesses. But before we do that we have fix what we can and keep on fixing it until we resolve the problem. This is a big first step in lowering our taxes and stimulating our economy. It will also create additional revenues for the State and local governments by motivating and giving long time homeowners incentives to buy and sell their homes. When people are buying and selling properties it generates revenue for our government through doc stamps and other closing cost. It will also generate revenue for local businesses because when families buy a new home, they also buy new home furnishings and spend money on remodeling. The money than gets circulated back into the economy and this helps create new jobs. This also generates more sales tax revenues for the State and local governments. We cannot afford to wait a couple of more years for the perfect plan to fall into place because it may never happen and it would also be next to impossible to put together a perfect fix in a single shot. Amendment 1 will be the foundation and the starting point that will allow us to fix this tax crisis one step at a time. We need immediate relief right now! Florida's economic future is hinging on this amendment passing. Spread the news and pass this message along.

Thanks for taking your time to read this,

Fred Hintenberger

Remember - Vote "YES ON 1" on January 29, 2008.

Please encourage your family, friends, colleagues and neighbors to vote in support as well.

YES ON 1 YARD SIGNS NOW AVAILABLE

Provided by FAR, yard signs are available in the Realtor^® Store at PRO to promote Vote Yes on 1. Signs are free of charge and available while supplies last.

Floridians, our fate is in our hands. Passage of Amendment 1 will return money to homeowners right away and put nearly $10 billion back into Florida’s economy over the next five years.

This tax cut is in addition to the $15 billion property tax cut created during a June special legislative session that rolled back property taxes to 2006 levels.

Amendment 1 benefits those who want to move into a different home, seniors seeking to downsize, and business owners facing rising property values.

Have you been dreaming of moving into a bigger house because your family is growing? Have you lived in your home for years and are looking to buy a smaller home because the kids have grown up and moved to a new city? The scenarios below can help explain how the property tax cut from Amendment 1 will save your money.

Looking for a larger house?

If you bought a house for $95,000 in 1995 and its current market value now is $300,000 and the assessed value is only $150,000-- you could transfer the full $150,000 difference to buy a more expensive home.

If the purchase of your new home costs $400,000, you would be paying about $6,300 in taxes without portability. But with the tax savings from Amendment 1 including the Save our Homes portability and the double homestead exemption, the new annual taxes would be about half or $3,600.

Want to downsize?

Under the new tax plan, portability also will apply if you want to move to a less expensive property. Instead of transferring the difference, your transfer will be your existing Save our Home percentage.

For example, if you live in a $300,000 house with an assessed value of $150,000, you pay taxes on $125,000 or about $2,100. If you wanted to move to a $200,000 condo the savings will be significant.

In this case, you would bring 50% or $100,000 in savings that reduces your assessed value to $100,000 on the new property. With the newly increased $50,000 homestead exemption from Amendment 1, the taxable value for all local government taxes other than school taxes would fall to $50,000. The new total annual tax bill would be about $1,000 or about half of the old tax bill.

Do you live in a mobile home?

More than 1.1 million Floridians currently live in mobile home or manufactured housing parks and communities. Currently, if you live on a leased lot in a park or community, you are paying tangible personal property taxes on your porches, sunrooms, storage rooms, and carports. With the passage of Amendment 1, you will have an exemption up to $25,000…so most of you will no longer pay this tax at all!

Download a comparison chart

Click the image above to download

This is only our first step and we will continue fighting for lower property taxes for all homeowners. We can only achieve this if we stand united!

Thanks for your support,

Fred Hintenberger, P.A. on behalf of the Pinellas Realtors Organization and the Florida Association of Realtors.

Posted by Fred Hintenberger on January 28th, 2008 12:33 AMPost a Comment (0)