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Pasco Might Lose $2.32 Billion Because of Amendment

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By Carl  Orth | The Suncoast News

Published: February 12, 2008

NEW PORT RICHEY, Fla. - NEW PORT RICHEY, Fla. - Amendment No. 1 will take a bite of about $2.32 billion out of Pasco County's total taxable property value, Property Appraiser Mike Wells told the County Commission this morning.

Wells estimates the impact of the changes in the state property tax system approved by Florida voters Jan. 29 will be in the range of 8 percent of Pasco taxable property value.

The biggest chunk of tax value losses will come from the doubling the homestead exemption, to $50,000 from $25,000, part of the Amendment No. 1 package, Wells explained.

That might be worth about $180 per homeowner. Most Pasco houses probably will qualify for the higher homestead exemption, Wells said.

The real estate downturn began about the middle of 2006, Wells observed. "It was as though the faucet was turned off," Wells remarked.

The value of homes in West Pasco has been hit hardest, with selling prices sometimes declining 15 percent to 20 percent. according to Wells.

Overall, values of Pasco homes have gone down 5 percent, although some desirable new homes in the Wesley Chapel area of south-central Pasco, adjacent to the New Tampa area of Hillsborough County, are still going up in values.

New construction in Pasco last year fell to roughly $800 million, according to Wells. It was in the billions several years ago.

Wells provided some perspective on how fast the county has grown since he was a county commissioner. In 1997, his first year handling the Pasco property roll as appraiser, the county had a total of $7.9 billion in taxable property value. As of last year, the county's total assessed taxable value was $29.7 billion.

"We have gone through a period of growth this county has never seen before," Wells said. "It astounded me the prices people were paying" for homes and property. Taxes are based on those prices paid.

Nearly three-fourths of the taxable assessed value in Pasco comes from homes, Wells said. Many other counties get a higher percentage of their assessed value from commercial and industrial property, which is not covered by the homestead exemption and the Save Our Homes 3 percent cap on annual assessment increases.

Even in a declining real estate market, the property appraiser is obligated under the Florida Constitution to raise taxable values up to 3 percent. "It's embedded in the constitution," Wells said.

To counterbalance rising property values and keep taxes about the same, commissioners would have to lower the property tax millage rate.

"They're painful, they're difficult," Commissioner Michael Cox said about cuts in spending the county faces if it is to avoid hiking tax rates to offset an increase in tax exemptions.

"It means we're going to change the way we do business and provide services," Cox said. County officials might not have agreed with Amendment 1 that voters passed, but the county will find a way to deliver services, he added.

"I'm tickled to death not to be a county commissioner anymore," Wells said with a chuckle, referring to the tough choices commissioners are facing.

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