![]() Nothing makes my day like government geeky stuff. And few places provide it more than the Citrus County Property Appraiser’s Office. It’s not that Cregg Dalton is geeky (though he is a little). It’s that the office is chock full of data and trends, and it’s attracted my attention for as long as I’ve been around these parts. So, when Cregg invited me to attend a recent Citizen's Training session, I jumped at it. And because it was like school, I took notes.
What you have here is your basic random sample of data. I prefer data that tells a story, but sometimes a bunch of raw statistics says plenty as well. Here we go: — First off, please check out the property appraiser’s website. It has a ton of great data and helpful information. — A third-grade explanation of what the property appraiser does: He sets the assessed (taxable) value of property; the County Commission and other local governments set the tax rate. The whole thing is math. The tax rate is called millage. One mill equals $1 for every $1,000 of taxable value on property. Taxable value is what’s left over after the exemptions are applied. A house may be valued at $250,000; its exemptions drop the assessed value to $200,000. The County Commission tax rate is 8.9249 mills. This person’s county tax bill is $1,785. In sum, the property appraiser neither raises nor lowers your taxes. He values your property. Someone else decides the taxes based on those values. — Citrus County has 157,000 parcels. Of those, we have about 60,000 single-family homes. Of that number, 90% have the $25,000 homestead exemption. And 77% have the second $25,000 homestead exemption. That’s a lot of money off the table…about $2.3 billion of property value not being taxed in homestead exemptions alone. This is the exact reason why local governments such as the county favor flat fees for services because they have fewer exemptions. — Speaking of the homestead, it saves the average homeowner $400 to $600 a year. — Building permits have jumped in the last few years. No shock there. But it is shocking to see that we had 242 new homes in 2016 at an average cost of $200,000; in 2024, we had 1,521 new homes with an average property value of $325,525. We’re pricing ourselves out of existence. — Citrus is becoming a bedroom community thanks to the Suncoast Parkway. In 2024, we added 300 new residents from Hernando, Hillsborough, Marion, Pasco, and Pinellas counties. I realize Marion isn’t a parkway county, but it sits just off Citrus Springs where much of this growth is headed. We knew this would happen. Folks moving to Citrus County and working elsewhere. I’m especially hearing this of the mid-level professionals we desire: firefighters, teachers, and medical workers. I’m OK with it so long as the folks moving into Citrus County embrace the community. Work outside the county all you want, but please participate in your neighborhood. — Vacant lots are selling for $40,000 and up in Pine Ridge/Citrus Springs. I’m frankly flabbergasted by that. I get that homes are more expensive, but how did a speck of dirt become so costly here? — Growth is concentrated in Pine Ridge/Citrus Springs, with chunks as well in Citrus Hills, Sugarmill Woods and Homosassa. — We have 56,584 vacant residential lots. In the old days, we’d say that was our buildout number. Once those lots have homes, we should be done growing. But, as we’ve seen the last two years, it’s not that simple. County commissioners are constantly hearing from developers that they want more buildable lots. We’re going to keep a close eye on that number from year to year. — Thanks very much to Cregg and his excellent staff. They truly want to assist citizens, so please let them do that. That’s it for this Thursday. Have a splendid one, friends. Join the discussion on our Facebook page. Enjoying the blog? Please consider supporting it at Venmo, PayPal, or Patreon. Comments are closed.
|
AuthorMike Wright has written about Citrus County government and politics for 36 years. Archives
February 2025
|