Appraiser: Fallout from Amendment 1 not good

Dade City could see a drop of $39-million in taxable property.

By HELEN ANNE TRAVIS, Times Staff Writer
Published March 12, 2008

DADE CITY - The numbers are in.

Pasco County Property Appraiser Mike Wells presented the fallout from Amendment 1 to city officials at Tuesday night's meeting.

"The news we have is not good," Wells said.

His office predicted that Dade City will see an 11 percent drop in its tax roll for 2008, the majority of which is due to Amendment 1.

In 2007, the city had $339-million in taxable property. After Amendment 1 passed, that figure is predicted to drop to $300-million.

The second homestead exemption hit the city the hardest, knocking $17-million off the tax roll.

"Please understand that these are working numbers," Wells said.

Without the amendment, Wells' office predicted that Dade City would have had $327-million worth of taxable property.

Other Pasco cities have seen worse. Wells didn't specify, but he said that some cities on the county's west side will see a 20 percent drop.

The property appraiser's office usually releases these figures in June. He was presenting the numbers early as a courtesy, he said.

Helen Anne Travis can be reached at htravis@sptimes.com or 352-521-6518.

[Last modified March 12, 2008, 01:13:37]