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New Property Tax Legislation

The 2008 Florida Legislative Session ended on May 2, 2008 with a year focused on the massive budget shortfall. The following legislation passed and will become law unless vetoed by the Governor.

Property tax reform was addressed through a “glitch bill”, SB 1588, to clean up implementation of Amendment One approved by voters in January.

The bill ties the maximum millage rate to what would have been charged the prior year adjusted for the change in per capita income.  For example, if the millage rate was 9 mills in 2006, it can only be increased by 4.7% in 2007 (the 2006-2007 change in per capita Florida personal income).

The law provides that a county, municipality or independent district can overrule the maximum millage rate.

Additional changes to the property tax process include the following changes to the value adjustment board (VAB):

• One elected official and one school board member were replaced with 2 citizen representatives
• Required the development of uniform policies and procedures to be used before all VAB’s (must be made available on the Department of Revenue and Clerk of the Court websites)
• Prevented the county attorney from representing the VAB.

The Florida Taxation and Budget Reform Commission proposed additional tax reforms in the form of constitutional amendments. The amendments will be voted on by the citizens of Florida in the upcoming November 2008 election. The amendments submitted by the Florida Taxation and Budget Reform Commission include controversial proposals for a property tax swap to replace the school district levy with an increased sales tax and removing the constitutional ban on using public funds for religious-based institutions.  The other amendments include targeted property tax breaks, minimum school funding requirements for classroom instruction and a local option sales tax for community colleges.

Please check our website (www.taxcollectorpbc.com) frequently for additional information on issues affecting Palm Beach County taxpayers.