News

Seniors may get new tax exemption

Low-income seniors would get another $15,000, but not before a public hearing and a vote.

By BILL VARIAN, Times Staff Writer
Published September 7, 2007

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TAMPA - Low-income seniors may get an added property tax break, thanks to Hillsborough County commissioners, though relief would be a while off.

Commissioners voted tentatively Thursday to increase the homestead exemption for low-income seniors by $15,000 starting in 2009, and possibly to increase that to $25,000 in subsequent years.

Before it becomes official, the proposal must go before a public hearing and a subsequent board vote that has not yet been scheduled.

Pitched by Commissioner Brian Blair, the added exemption would apply to seniors with an annual household income of $23,000 or less. It would provide relief on only that part of a person's tax bill that goes toward what the county levies to all county residents.

"Why should any senior citizen making $23,000 or less have to pay any property taxes?" Blair asked. "I think that it's time that we help them any way we can."

The board would also ask other local governments to follow suit.

His proposal comes as local governments throughout Florida grapple with state-mandated property tax reductions. A second wave of reductions could come in January if voters approve a new super homestead exemption that would give poor seniors as much as a minimum $100,000 exemption.

Given that timing, some commissioners thought Blair should wait on his proposal, at least until after January. Further cuts could erode services for seniors, Commissioner Rose Ferlita said.

"Timing is a problem," Ferlita said. "So I can't support it, given the fact that, though we're helping them, we're also hindering them."

As in the rest of Florida, all people who live in the home they own are entitled to a homestead exemption that knocks $25,000 off of their home's value when calculating property taxes.

Also, commissioners have previously added another $25,000 exemption for low-income seniors if they apply for the exemption and document their income. Blair's proposal would take the exemption up to $65,000.

The added $15,000 exemption would shave $86.17 from each household's tax bill under today's tax rate. Currently, 6,958 residences are getting the existing senior exemption.

Commissioners voted 4-2 on the proposal with Ferlita and Kevin White voting no. Commissioner Ken Hagan was absent.

In other action, commissioners scaled down plans to replace the terrace area around County Center downtown. The plaza tiles are cracking or becoming uneven in some places and county workers had proposed spending $503,000 to replace it with a concrete base covered in terrazzo. It currently has a mortar base covered by granite.

Some commissioners had balked at the price, given the lean times. So the county staff came back with a proposal to trim the cost to $403,000, largely by using etched concrete for part of the covering. Ferlita, who had hoped for more savings, voted against the compromise.

Bill Varian can be reached at varian@sptimes.com or 813 226-3387.

[Last modified September 7, 2007, 01:20:32]