In response to Marion County officials reviewing a proposed amendment that could potentially create a $50 million shortfall next year, several local residents contacted Ocala-News.com with their opinions. Here are some of those letters:
“I’m a new transplant from Illinois, and I’ve been keeping an eye on all the talk about property tax breaks for seniors. I totally get wanting to help our older neighbors, but I think a total tax exemption for everyone over 65 is a bit of a reach and could really hurt our local services like schools and emergency responders. Instead of an all-or-nothing approach, maybe we could look at something more balanced? It would make more sense to offer those breaks to folks who have actually been here for a while—like a 5-year residency requirement. That’s how we handled it back in Illinois, and it worked well to keep things sustainable while still helping retirees out. I really hope the commission considers a plan that protects our seniors without sacrificing the funding our community needs to thrive.” – Bette Wagner, Silver Springs, FL
“Thank God for our governor!! Losing my paid-in-full home because of the property taxes is something that every senior citizen has to worry about! What if something were to happen to us and we didn’t have the money to pay a tax on something we already own?? The county takes my home?? That’s just not right!! A lot of us only have Social Security to live the rest of our days on, and with the cost of living, medical expenses, etc., life is hard!! The county commissioners want to put their spin on this, as it’s going to hurt the county. There are MANY ways to trim the budget, but they cry about it. Imagine that!! They might have to work for us instead of for themselves!! There are many ways to recap the money. We don’t need alot of the stuff that they spend our money on. It may help the few but what about the many? Are our roads any better?? Are our kids any smarter? When I was a GC in South Florida, we paid high impact fees for every home permit I pulled. The money used for those fees were used for Fire, police, roads, drainage,schools…… So if I was paying for all that stuff, why do I have to pay taxes on my house that I own?? If I have to pay these property taxes, then I’m renting!! Makes me so mad! We’re already taxed to death!! Thanks to our governor, we have a chance to get out of this mess and start living instead of surviving!” – Mike Simpson Sr, Ocala
“I just read this morning that 493 new houses are being built in the SW, Now if the county gets an avgrage of $1500.00 per property thats a total new tax revenue of $739500.00 per year on just this new property. Now I keep reading how there building all these new houses that its too mush buliding, too much traffic too many gas stations and too many carwashes more box stores more restaurants and such. All these are new sources of TAX revenue income. Ok lets conservatively there has been 30 new construction sites in the past two years and lets say each one supplied 493 new homes and I know that number is a lot higher. So we have 30X493 = 14790 new homes now lets say each brings in an advrage $1500.00 (RIGHT) that is a new TAX revenue income of $22,185000.00 conservatively not including the business TAX revenue for the gasstations carwashes Big Box restaurants and the associated income form Permitting, Inspections, Licensing and all the other incomes that the county collects on start up and annually. I dont think the county will be introuble any time soon in finding ways to cover expences. If homsted retired residents get a TAX break and finally really owning there home. I’m just saying.” – Gerard Behan, Ocala
“Marion County Board members passed this helpful amendment 5 years ago to help seniors, but it is a small financial relief. It doesn’t go far enough to protect longtime, low income seniors from actually losing their homestead to the county for unpaid property taxes. We’ve spent 47 years in our home, paying that tax. My husband’s disabled. I’m 70 and work part time. It’s scary to think that if we fall on harder times, the county can take our home from us. Here’s my suggestions.. eliminate/ greatly reduce taxes for the residents who’ve paid into the system for a specified amount of years OR place a lien on the home to be paid at the time of the owner’s transfer/sale/ or demise. The County gets their money, the resident is not put out of their home, and can live out their final years w/o fear of becoming homeless. Let all the newcomers pay in for (40?)years like we’ve done.” – Joy Rumans, Ocala
“The first thing out of local public official’s mouth was they’d lose 50 million tax dollars and would have to cut back on fire and police personnel. Not cutting back on non-essential employees and services, but the very thing that could scare people into voting no. Let me ask you how many times have you seen work sites with one or two people doing the work and six or seven are just standing around supervising? A recent power outage had three city of Ocala electric trucks, on a Sunday, with one guy in a bucket working. How much overtime was paid in that group? We as tax payers are tired of being government’s money tree. They need to learn to work within the budget they have just as we the taxpayers have to.” – Karen Clark, Ocala
“My wife and I are in our 80s and rely on Social Security and 401ks for our income. Between auto, home insurance and property tax we pay over $7000.00 a year. I agree that property tax for seniors and especially senior vets should be completely eliminated. We have certainly earned it. When we pay so much in taxes and other fees it has a negative effect on our quality of life.” – Marlin Echols, Ocala
“I believe that the current real estate tax system is flawed. When property values increase – taxes increase giving the government automatic raises rather they need it or not. I also believe that there is a ton of waste in the system. Counties have other ways to make up the loss of revenue, one being increasing sales tax if necessary. Counties will still get revenue on non homesteaded properties like commercial, rental snd vacant properties. Not to mention the thousands of people under 65. It’s just not right to foreclose on a retired person because they can’t pay their property taxes. Inflation is at an all time high and older folks on limited incomes are having a hard time. Please vote YES to increase the exemption for older folks.” – Susan Williams, Summerfield
“Marion County would not be $50 million short if they would start doing efficient, Code Enforce Marion Co. overgrown, uninhabited garbage properties throughout the whole county that decreases our property values Increases crime It is a blank on the county, but they do nothing. They do nothing about it. And since the governor made it, so if you complain to Code Enforce Marion Co., which causes an opportunity for the violator to retaliate against you If you call it on your neighbors, then your neighbor is gonna be like mad at you because you have to give them your name I think it put you in jeopardy to make a complaint so nobody’s doing it so nothing is happening in Code Enforce Marion Co. Code enforcement doesn’t turn their head unless they get a call, but you can clearly see an abandoned home and they don’t do the work to fine the owners properly I’m guarantee you that would be way over $50 million in fines that they could be collecting and clean up the damn county Also, if they would stop letting all these damn site contractors tear all the trees down when they build a new home because somebody came from up north and they don’t want any leaves and they’re pretty grassy lawn Which is ruining the county for wildlife and aesthetics and global warming or whatever But it’s just greed keep building keep building. Let them tear down all the trees pile them up and burn them. So if the county wants to complain about losing money to the residence of the county They better have better ground to stand on. They’re not doing their freaking job. Plus, how many trucks and overpaid unregulated subcontractors Back room deals are being done I guarantee you if you looked into it there’s a lot of fraud waste and abuse within the county You see one guy working in seven guys standing around looking at their phones And bring some jobs to the county other than warehouse jobs I know we can be a housing hub And retirement Mecca But what about the people that live there? They want a good paying job It’s all low wage paying service jobs. Thank you” – Russ Sampson, Dunnellon
“We need fire fighters, police officers, medical personnel, every day we live. Actually we can use more. It would be foolish to vote against what we the American people need. I’ve always had to pay property taxes because it’s the American way, people please don’t vote to stop paying your taxes. On the long run it’s going to keep helping us, not on the short term.” – Lorene Shelton, Summerfield
“On the surface, the proposed property tax amendment sounds good until you look closer to its actual affect locally. Maybe there should be a few exceptions like for homeowners over 65, have lived in their home 10 years or more, etc. Audubon has published an article about the affects in Florida. Based on a widespread implementation of, it could be extremely detrimental to Florida’s eco systems. “Property Tax Amendment on November Ballot Poses Immediate and Lasting Threat to Florida’s Environment In a special session this May, the Legislature voted to place a constitutional amendment bringing sweeping property tax reforms on the November ballot. They had only received it days earlier from Governor DeSantis and voted it through without any real analysis of the budget implications for cities, counties, and water management districts, or the public services that would be eliminated. In the weeks since, Florida’s nonpartisan Office of Economic and Demographic Research has completed its analysis of the amendment, predicting that if passed by voters in November, it will reduce local government revenues by $5 billion annually in FY 27-28, rising to nearly a $12 billion reduction annually by FY 31-32. The amendment on November’s ballot—which will require 60% approval to pass—would significantly increase Florida’s homestead exemption, raising it to $150,000 in 2027 and $250,000 in 2028 for current Florida homeowners, and further restrict tax increases on businesses and rental properties. If approved by voters, this proposal would not only significantly reduce the amount of funding cities and counties have available to support their communities, but it also narrows the range of services they can fund with the property tax revenues that remain. This raises significant questions about the future funding of programs such as parks and recreation, libraries, civic centers, pollution control efforts, land- use planning, and other local government services that communities rely on. Without definitions for terms such as “natural resource projects” and without language making clear that the examples provided in each category are illustrative rather than limiting, it is possible that local conservation land acquisition programs, land management, habitat restoration, and other environmental initiatives may not qualify for funding. Local governments may increasingly need to rely on state appropriations or federal revenue sources to address needs that have traditionally been funded and managed at the local level. Because rural counties have smaller budgets to begin with and higher proportions of their tax base are homesteaded properties, the amendment will hit the budgets of these communities harder than others. And while the amendment does not directly reference water management districts, the reduction in ad valorem assessments will reduce water management district budgets as well, which are supported by a percentage (millage) of property tax collections. This will affect everything from flood control to Everglades restoration, springs protection to combatting saltwater intrusion and protecting water supplies. The Northwest Florida and Suwannee River water management districts will be most severely impacted due to the higher percentage of homestead eligible properties within their boundaries, but all the districts will see painful reductions at a time when Floridians are clamoring for more services from them, not fewer. While no one relishes paying taxes, Floridians are hungry for better growth management to address the accelerating conversion of Florida’s wildlands and farms; better water management to protect communities from flooding, wildfire, harmful algal blooms, and saltwater intrusion; more parks and preserves for wildlife and recreation; and greater ability for local communities to shape their own quality of life, instead of one-size-fits-all decisions being made for them from Tallahassee. Ultimately, voters will have to decide this issue in November. It will be a priority of Audubon to help ensure they understand the lasting implications of that vote.” – Elizabeth Smith, Dunnellon
“My first complaint, would be about all of the Unsolicited Homes being built. We have thousands of empty homes that that have been approved by our County Commissioners, due to granting Rezoning applications by out of County and State Developers. Thia would be a good place to start, getting people who can work to preserve our County and its valuable treasures, rather than destroy them. Our aquifers are stretched to the max, our grasslands have been torn to the bare dirt, destroying the homes of our Protected Gopher Tortoises, and other ground animals. The Trees and plants, that btw, keep our Carbon levels down, because they absorb CO2, and produce Nitrogen, and help to keep our air quality in check, are gone. There have been no credible geological studies done, before this destruction, and its effects. We need to stop all of this building. I have no issue with private buyers, purchasing a plot of land and building, because they will be paying taxes. ALL of these unsolicitied homes, taxes, are on the BACKS of the real property owners, like us.. Our AD VALOREM assessments have gone through the roof, to pay for the FIRE, WATER, and STORM WATER, and Waste. There is already a LAW on the books, that many people do not know about. That is, if you own your home, have lived in it for 25 yrs and are 65, you can apply for the exemption from paying Property Taxes. That said, apparently, counties like MARION, whose Commissioners have decided to OPT out of, affects many residents. We need to step up and file complaints, against their policies. We try to Vote them out, but the fact is, 3 or 4 of the 5 have vested interests, and supported by big money, developers, Real Estate brokers, and Construction Companies, which leaves the little guy out. I don’t think that they should be eliminated for everyone, and make sure that the Snowbirds continue to pay their fair shere, and bring back IMPACT FEES!” Cheryl Marcum, Silver Springs