State challenges property appraiser
Brown lowers 2007 assessments by 20 percent and state demands justification

BY PAM BRANNON

Gulf Breeze News news@gulfbreezenews.com

The only two tax rolls in the state not approved at press time by the Dept. of Revenue are Santa Rosa and Escambia counties'.

"Chris (Jones, Escambia property appraiaser) and I have submitted our tax rolls, but they do not meet the state's rules about not lowering assessments more than 15 percent in any one year. We both lowered our assessments of property values 20 percent, so the state is making us justify our decisions. So we are the only two county appraisers who have not had our rolls approved," Santa Rosa County Property Appraiser Greg Brown told a group of Navarre area Realtors last week.

That means he cannot send out tax bills, and the county's taxing authorities cannot begin collecting those bills.

"They have an awfully big hammer over our heads," he said. "If they refuse to sign off on our tax rolls soon, then the county could end up having to borrow money to meet its financial needs. And if Chris and I stand firm and refuse to increase our assessments across our counties and the state refuses to approve what we submit them for our justification, then the state actually could remove us from office and send someone to temporarily take our place who would increase the property assessments to the 15 percent level."

But area property values have decreased. Brown says he has 36 employ ees in his office, and they assess 100,000 properties each year. "Making the justification for our decision is tough with that small a staff," he said.

Brown said he looked at the market declines for the first quarter of this year, and tried to make the state take that into consideration. He said this area of Florida is different from the rest of the state. "In our post-Ivan, post-Dennis, post-Katrina environment, we are definitely different from south Florida. And Chris and I both know property values here are not what they used to be," Brown said.

Brown also made another 'bombshell' announcement to the Board of Realtors, concerning the new Super Homestead Constitutional Amendment that voters will cast ballots on next January. It will affect not only county coffers, but also the state school boards. "No one knew at first if this bill would affect the schools if it passes. So I called the Dept. of Revenue and asked. They said yes, it would - that there is nothing in the bill to directly exempt the schools. So they will be affected greatly."

Brown said that means if that constitutional amendment passes, the Santa Rosa School Board will lose $14-million overnight. "The legislators in Tallahassee are saying 'trust us - we won't leave the schools hanging. We will find money to make up that difference'. But the legislators are calling a special session in September because their sales tax revenues have been falling, and they may make more cuts, so where will they find 'extra' money next year to help the schools?" Brown said.

The Santa Rosa County Commission will lose $12 million overnight.

Brown said on the surface the Super Homestead looks great for taxpayers. Better than the homestead exemption now allowed under the current Save Our Homes (SOH). But Brown said it might not be al it's cracked up to be for homeowners, especially after the first year of exemptions. He is going to place on his website within the next two to three weeks, he said, a side-by-side accounting of both programs to show taxpayers what the new amendment would really mean down the road on their particular property.

If passed, the amendment would allow a drastic cut in taxes on most homestead properties immediately, according to Brown. After the first year the property tax will go up or down, depending each year the market values. So the second year it could go way up again, higher than the Save Our Homes (SOH) current exemption allows.

People already in the homestead exemption program with SOH will have the option to stay with that program, instead of going with the new Super Homestead. But once a property is sold it automatically goes into the new program. "It will be difficult for you realtors, I know, to try to explain to potential buyers why they are purchasing a home with exactly the same value and house payment as the people next door, but their taxes are different - maybe higher. And people will not understand how their millage rate for the county may go down, but their property taxes may go up any given year," Brown said. "It will take 60 percent of the voters in January to approve the change. It is a very complex issue. But when a person with a $200,000 home hears that first year they could get a $1400 decrease in their property taxes, it will be difficult to explain to them why it might not be a good idea in the long run to vote for the change."