The Lake County property tax TRIM notices are out today. Those are estimates of what your residential or commercial property taxes will be for the next fiscal year if the tax agencies either STAY at the existing maximum millage rate they published as the top range they might select in September hearings. OR, they could REDUCE the millage rate to the rollback rate or even below, saving you on taxes.
Note: If you want to really understand your tax rates, you need to read all this post. I may update or revise this page later with added information. This was posted Aug. 19, 2019).
The big jump on many TRIM notices is from the 3/4 mill increase for school safety from last year's referendum. People might have forgotten that added tax was passed last year, and now it starts being levied. In our example, the school safety increased rate hike was $42/year for a retiree's home.
On the other side, all Lake County residents pay .49 mills for the Lake County Water District. They raised the rate about .25 mills last year to fund Hydrilla treatments. But this year, they rolled back part of that increase, so that is a good sign.
Otherwise, County taxes (not city) are about the same. Watch for our analysis of the most costly cities like Tavares on FiscalRangers.com. COMPARE your predicted tax MILLAGE RATE, VALUATION, and TAX Dollars for the last five years to really see what is happening to you.
To get an idea how cities compared in their 2018 final millage rates, you can review this worksheet from the Lake County Property Appraiser: https://www.lakecopropappr.com/pdfs/2018_Final_Millage_Rates_and_Values_Comparison_Sheet_ADA.pdf
Above is a sample TRIM notice of a retiree home with 3 exemptions in unincorporated Lake County. If it was in a city, it would be $500+ more a year. The rates on the TRIM notice are the maximum rates you might get - most taxing authorities will decide if rates should be lower in two required hearings in Sept. If you don't like the MAXIMUM rate shown on your trim notice, then attend BOTH tax hearings and provide verbal input PLUS send the elected officials emails and leave phone messages. Some cities are retaining almost all the higher revenue from increased valuations, thus YOUR tax bill will be higher, unless you raise hell and they reduce the planned millage rate. Don't let them steamroll you with increased taxes when your taxable valuations are going up. By not rolling back tax rates each year, cities are able to pass on high wage and benefit increases and spend on dubious projects.
Even though your valuation might go up 8% and your local tax authority/city/county refuses to implement the roll back rate, the Florida Save our Homes law only allows taxes to increase 3% maximum a year if this is your primary residence and it is homesteaded. But second home and commercial owners get skewered if taxes are not rolled back. (Leave a comment if my statements need correction or clarification).
Always run a worksheet comparing each line item for the last 5 years so you can see the trends. You also can detect if your local city or county RAISED annual assessments like fire or solid waste rates. I personally believe they should include (even via a website) a trend line for every tax item over FIVE years so cities or other elected officials can't fake you out with fancy wording to hide hidden tax increases. For instance, the current millage rate might be 7 mills, but the elected officials glowingly boast they reduced it to 6.8 mills, but they forget to mention that due to increased valuations (like 8%) and increased house demand, their rollback rate might be 6.4 mills which would let them collect the same revenues as last year.
The reverse side of your TRIM notice contains details on the final tax decision hearing rates. Unfortunately, transparency is garbage, because they list only the meeting date and location, and no website or contact info. However, the Lake County TAX Collector lists all the TAX authorities and phone numbers HERE to call them (but not many websites, which I have requested in the past). But, I have found the phone numbers are generic and the clerk answering them has NO IDEA who you can talk to for an explanation of a tax line item. That needs to be changed by Carey Baker and Tax Collector David Jordan. Every one of the tax authorities should have an explanatory website and DIRECT phone number and department name.
If you want to compare your local property tax estimates to other cities or the county, use the Lake County Property Appraiser's tax calculator ( Carey Baker ) - it is eye opening to see that Tavares residents with a millage rate of about 7-mills and a $200,000 valued home pay $774 more a year than County residents.
PS: Many cities are not providing detailed agenda packets or budgets online. You have to request full versions be emailed to you, so do it. For instance, Tavares only posted a 39 page City Council packet for their Wednesday meeting, while the full detailed packet is 178 pages. The short version left out all the details on a proposed rate study for water rates. Ask your city councils why they are not fully transparent, AND ask why they do not make videos of meetings. (which Leesburg and Eustis DO provide).
PS: At first, I was steamed about the increase for schools, figuring only parents should pay for it. But after reflection, birth rates are down, and we need kids to continue our economy and future, so spreading out the cost of school safety with the tax helps reduce the cost for parents with multiple kids. Without population growth, we will be overrun by migrants.
Good luck and leave comments or a LIKE!
Vance Jochim - Lake County's Fiscal Watchdog at FiscalRangers.com
Posted in Tavares, FL on August 19, 2019
Vance Jochim
FiscalRangers@comcast.net
YouTube Channel "FiscalRangersFlorida"
