No question: numbers look good

The property appraiser has an important announcement.

Ahem.

“Property values are through the roof!”

OK, I’m paraphrasing, but the press release from Property Appraiser Cregg Dalton’s office about the official tax roll shows pretty much what we expect: Super strong economy for anything that sits on property.

---

New businesses. Old businesses torn down for new ones. New homes and homes not so new are being sold for eye-popping prices. 

All of that adds to the tax roll. And Citrus County is going in a solidly north direction.

Before we dive into it, a little civics tutoring:

— Property Appraiser Cregg Dalton’s office decides the value of your house. Both the taxable value and “just” value, which is similar to market value. (Though in practice, the actual market moves much faster than the property appraiser, so “just” is often on the low side of market.)

— Taxable value and just value are totally different. Florida has numerous homestead exemptions, as we know. It’s a safe bet in most cases exemptions will knock at least $50,000 off the “just” value, resulting in the much lower taxable value.

— Now. The property appraiser does not decide your taxes. That’s someone else’s deal altogether. County Commission, School Board, city councils — they decide taxes. (Click here for the current list of tax rates.)

Once the taxable value of your home is set, now we move on to the millage, or what I call the calculus portion of our program.

— Property taxes are based on millage and math. One mill equals $1 in taxes for every $1,000 of taxable value on a property. So, to make it easy — and that’s the best way:

Your home has a taxable value of $100,000. The millage rate is 5.7 mills. You pay $570 in taxes. (I think that example is from the 1980s.)

— On July 1 of each year, the property appraiser certifies the tax roll so that the local governments can set the proposed millage rate. That sets off another set of circumstances we'll cover another day.

Got all that? Good, cuz it gets even more confusing.

Not only does Florida have numerous exemptions, but it also caps at 3% the amount of taxable VALUE your house can increase each year. That’s so local governments can’t take advantage in huge economic years, such as we’re having now, to jack up taxes based on higher valuations.

If you’ve been in the same house a few years without additions, there should be a growing gap between the taxable and just values of the property. Just value goes up with the economy; taxable value increases annually no more than 3%.

It’s good to remember that. The 3% rule protects current homeowners when the real estate market is driving taxable values up, as they are now.

Dalton’s office sent a press release Monday regarding the certified tax roll. With the four-day Independence weekend and Crystal River's Centennial, I completely forgot about it until Wednesday.

Here are some highlights:

— The taxable value of the county grew by 11.8%. Both cities posted increases around the same amount.

— New homes and businesses, plus home resales are driving up taxable values. No surprise there. 

— Here’s a big number: $374 million. That’s the taxable value of new construction, a whopping 62% jump from a year ago. Holy mackerel. 

New construction is as it implies: The taxable value of new stuff being built. And, clearly, there’s a lot of stuff being built. Everywhere we turn someone’s hammering a nail.

(Remember: that’s the gross amount. The net to the county won’t be known until it sets the millage rate.)

New construction for the cities: Inverness, $4.6 million taxable value; Crystal River, $9.3 million.

— The average value of a house is up 16%, from $222,903 to $260,370. Considering homes were selling in the $170s just a few years ago tells us what’s happened around here. It will be interesting to see if that huge trend continues or we start to see a slowdown.

— I commend you for making it this far. I appreciate the dedication. A note will be sent home to your parents.

— One last thing. I grasp this stuff fairly well but the complexities of the Property Appraiser’s Office at times escape me. The JWC Oops Team is on high alert. Knowing Cregg Dalton, the answer of whether I got it right will come with what happens first:

Cregg’s phone call.

Or daybreak.

Enjoy your Thursday, friends.

Join the discussion on our Facebook page.