Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/90018
Sarasota News Leader October 26, 2012 Siesta Seen • Create an additional homestead exemption for first-time buyers equal to 50 percent of the just value of the property (capped at the median home price in the county, which is about $135,000 for Sarasota County, Patter- son says). This is in addition to the current $50,000 homestead exemption. A first-time homebuyer is defined as one who has not received a homestead exemption in the previous three calendar years — in other words, someone moving to Florida from out-of-state or someone who has not owned a Florida home for several years. Again, this exemption applies to all property taxes ex- cept school district taxes. It would expire within five years. Patterson's big concern, she pointed out, is that Sarasota County would lose an estimat- ed $2.2 million in tax revenue the first year after this amendment was approved, and that amount would increase to $9.4 million in the 2016-17 fiscal year. "If somebody pays less," Patterson said, "somebody's going to have to pay more," if service levels are to remain the same with that much of a drop in revenue. In other words: What appears to be a good thing on the surface can have harsh conse- quences. As Patterson pointed out, Sarasota County al- ready has lost about 40 percent of its property value since the Great Recession began. Clos- ing libraries on Sundays was just one action the County Commission took to deal with the decline in revenue, she noted. Referring to that estimated loss of $9.4 million by the 2016-17 fiscal year, she added, "That's a pretty big hole, folks, and it will have to be filled in some way." The Florida Board of Realtors is supporting Amendment 4, Patterson said, with its mem- bers seeing the measure as a way to spur home sales. That group has predicted it could lead to 20,000 new jobs in the state over the next 10 years. By comparison, Patterson said, Sarasota County has seen 1,200 new jobs created in the past 18 months. The League of Women Voters, the Florida League of Cities and the Florida Association of Counties all oppose Amendment 4, in no small part because of the potential ramifica- tions on services for the public. Patterson also took pains to explain the back- ground of Amendment 3. It would cap the revenue collected by the state to the amount collected the previous year, plus an annual ad- justment based on a combination of popula- tion growth and the rate of inflation. The mea- sure would replace an existing state revenue limitation based on Florida personal income growth. Revenues collected in excess of the limitation would be deposited into the Budget Stabili- zation Fund and used for public schools or returned to taxpayers. "It's an odd thing," Patterson said of Amend- ment 3. "It's like the state [legislators have] de- Page 95