Save Our Homes means Lose our Homes to some
To the editor:
In response to Mr. Wilkinson’s “In Defense of Save Our Homes Amendment” news article, I would like to explain to the flip-side of how discriminatory and what an injustice it is to people in my position, which he failed to address in the article.
Mr. Wilkinson, in the article you explain how Save Our Homes is saving homeowners money on their property taxes, however, what you conveniently fail to show is that another taxpayer has to pay more than their “fair” share to make up the difference. An example of this in my case would be my next door neighbor’s home, which is assessed for a greater value than mine, but just because they have lived in their home longer than myself, I have been penalized by paying 100 percent more than them every year. Just in the last five years I have paid approximately $18,700 more in additional property taxes than what they have paid. I guess myself and others alike are victims of the covert Lose Our Gomes (LOH) amendment.
In this year alone, on my new TRIM notice, although my home’s assessed value has decreased $150,000, my proposed property taxes show an increase of $2,000. As you recommended to go to the public hearings, which I have attended, these taxing authority districts can offer me no relief on this enormous tax increase as long as this predatory Save Our Homes amendment is in effect. In the article you mention about if we did away with SOH, homesteader’ taxes would go up to the level of all others and the others (myself) would not go down and then the government would then have much more money to spend. Which is correct and is fair because then the taxing authority districts would not have to impose a large millage rate increase because they would have a greater amount of revenue from everyone paying their fair share. In any communal program, if the burden is not shared equally somebody has to pay more for someone not paying their equitable share, which makes it inequitable for everyone.
Furthermore, in your article you convey that certain exemptions will cause inequities for some in our case approximately $18,700 of inequities just in the last five years alone, who speaks for us? This amount is so outrageous to understand because it could be the yearly salary of a taxpayer in my case, it is a good portion of it. The worse part is I will continue to be penalized more each year and it also creates an additional burden upon homeowners in this situation should they wish to sell their home. In today’s economic conditions, how would you feel knowing that someone else using the same local and county services is paying one-half the amount of property taxes with a home of the same or greater value than your own? This is a very hard situation to face every day, does my money have less value than someone else’s?
You point out about what people were “willing to pay” years back and that you created this program for those people, nevertheless, we are willing to only pay our fair share not 100 percent more than our neighbors. What kind of exemptions do I qualify for especially since I have been a citizen and taxpayer for over 17 years? How can you promote your SOH policy as keeping people in their homes, when you are driving people like myself out of ours? If you are so willing to help the victims of the Chinese drywall, why not also help those that for so many years have paid the price of overpaying their share of property taxes just for others to take a free ride. What is fair for one is fair for all. Incidentally, I am submitting an invoice to you for the $18,700 overcharge of property taxes just in the last five years, which I request of you to credit towards my future property taxes.
Paul Sabutis
LOH victim
Cape Coral