Item 48 senior homestead exemption introduction
What the county recorded
This item is not from the published agenda
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The source document
The county’s agenda for Board of County Commissioners, Oct 24, 2023
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The county’s minutes for Board of County Commissioners, Oct 24, 2023
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What was said
Machine transcription of 9m of recording, with speaker names inferred from voice matching. 89% of 57 lines carry a name. It shows what was said, not what was decided, and both the words and the names can be wrong.
So forty-eight. Forty-seven is a time certain for eleven. Uh forty-eight is mine. I can go ahead if you'd like, Mr. Chairman.
Yes.
Um this is the introduction of the home the additional homestead exemptions that the board requested um in their meeting the end of September. Um Uh I've prepared a proposed ordinance. Um there are a couple of issues which the board needs to there basically there are two homestead exemptions that are allowable for seniors under the Under the um Constitution
and the general laws of Florida, one of which is a Fifty thousand dollar exemption from assessed value. If um the old uh the the person who is sixty five or older owns their own home, is a permanent resident, and has an adjusted household income which does not exceed Uh for this year uh thirty-five thousand one hundred and sixty-seven dollars. Um
That is a uh exemption that many of your surrounding the surrounding counties have adopted Though not Uh not all of them to the fifty thousand dollar Pinellus is at twenty thousand. Um Hillsboro is at fifty thousand. Um I believe Hernando was at 25,000. Um Uh but it under the statutes it's
allowable up to fifty thousand dollars. The second exemption um is a little bit more complicated. Um only Hillsboro of the surrounding counties, only Hillsboro has adopted it. Yeah. i applies again to persons sixty five or older Um who have a whose And Um Same adjusted. Adjusted household income. uh but who
owns a home with a just value of less than two hundred and fifty thousand dollars and it has been their permanent residence for at least twenty-five years. um that the entire amount of the assessment would come off of that property. Um what I've heard From I have not discussed either of these with property praiser and tax collector, I was sort of wanting to get direction from the board and then I'd have those those
conversations with them. Um But what I've heard from w at least one of the property appraisers in the surrounding area was they didn't they didn't adopt that one because it's administratively hard to calculate which properties those attach to. Mm-hmm. They are both within the statute and the constitution and the board can Um Adopt One or both, uh up
to fifty thousand Or any increment. You know. up to fifty thousand dollars. Um that's completely up to the board. Uh administrator was looking at what the financial impact of that would be.
Okay. Mr. Kabala.
Yeah, in terms of the where we take the maximum amount, we estimate probably approximately three million dollars on the general revenue side. Okay.
Um I have a question. Okay. Uh on the um first um
How do we how does someone We don't have one that proves income levels. So who is the Is it the property appraiser or the tax I mean the tax collector who has to certify people's incomes? How does that work?
Like any of the
Oh, you walked in just the right time.
Come forward, Buck. I just see that I just see that being a difficult thing to do.
Welcome. Commissioner, good morning everyone. Um, Jeff had the correct answer, and I know Brendan's back here, but yes, it is gonna be a lot of work. We're gonna have to hire a couple more folks. To do it. But we are willing to do it. I believe it's the right thing to do. I'm not on the board anymore, but I think with everything going on with you know It's the right thing to do and we're obviously ready to do Um,
you know. But but like your jet like the general homestead exemption, you would have paperwork that would require the the person who was applying for it to certify that
Every year they have to come back in and reapply. It's gonna be a it's gonna be a big job. Um but absolutely they've earned it. Pinellus, it's worked very well with them.
I'm guessing if you're a senior and you're not working anymore and you're uh sounds like these people may be just relying on social security. Yes. Um that their they just supply their income tax their Do you d I'm sorry, I'm not I know I'm past retirement age, but Do people who people who are retired do they have to file income tax return on their Social Security? I have no idea.
Yeah.
We still have to.
Okay, so they show you their income tax returns?
Yes, there's a process, but again, we will be able to manage that. We will be able you know, and we're willing to do that. Again, it's if you remember back when I was still on the board, I know um Senator Fasano brought it up to us and uh we we looked into it and and you know tried to figure out the cost and so forth. So here we are again, but it absolutely again, I I We're willing to do it um if you all decide to go that direction and I think our the seniors have deserved it, especially the ones on the fixed income making less than the Whatever the amount Jeff said, thirty-five thousand or whatever.
And I can't imagine that we have any homes unless they're fallen down trailers that are worth less than two fifty. Yeah, exactly. The second
I think the first option is the option. Okay.
But that's
up for you on the decide.
I I would move that we accept the first option. Okay.
I'll second
that motion.
All
right, got a motion a second. So any discussion?
Okay. So that's for twenty five. So so
Yeah. If you want to go with the first one and you want to go with it at fifty thousand dollars,
Okay. Is that the one?
That's the f yeah.
That's perfect. Mr. Chair? Yeah. Thank you, Chair. So Mr. Steinsnyder, we can set we can go to the to the to the cap. We can go to the ceiling. Right. But at any given time the board could say this year we want to do twenty-five thousand, or is it permanently set at fifty? If there's I'm just curious to know if there's flexibility, should there be changes in market.
You could m I I don't see any reason why you couldn't amend your ordinance to lower it if it I I there may be some political ramifications to that, but legally I think I would start low and go high, then go
high and go l
then go low. Yeah,
I'm for the fifty thousand. I'm just curious to know what kind of you know it's you
could amend your ordinance and but it would apply to the following year. The following tax year. Gotcha. Um and yeah, like I said, th there there may be political issues with with doing that once you've once you've granted it. But I don't see anything in the in the statute that would allow would would prohibit you from reducing it to twenty five thousand dollars if there was a financial need you we found that there was a financial need for that.
Well I'm for the fifty thousand with the the expense of the world and Or senior population getting getting priced out of here. I'm I'm happy to support this and thank you board for supporting this this This opportunity for our seniors and tax collector Mike Fasano and and property appraiser Mike Wells, thank you both for for your support and due diligence and helping us understand. I know it's been a been a couple of years to get across the finish line, but thank you both for your leadership on on uh this this ordinance.
Or to have a motion and a second. So the motion would be approve the introduction of the ordinance to adopt an additional homestead exemption of fifty thousand dollars, authorize the clerk and comptroller to advertise the proposed ordinance for public hearing on December 5th, 2023, at the West Pasco Government Center Boardroom, Newport Ritchie at 130 or soon thereafter, as same may be heard.
Okay. So I have a motion second, roll call vote.
District One, Commissioner Oakley.
Aye.
District two, Commissioner Weightman. Aye. District three, Commissioner Starkey. Aye. District four, Commissioner Bradford. Aye.
Five.
District fi District five, Chairman Mariano.
Okay, motion passed. All right, we'll move I guess is everyone here for the Lemoclock?
That's
right.
Is it?
Oh there it is. Yep. The tax collector walk.
Tax collector? Any anybody else? Hey. Welcome. What?