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Ballot Measure Could Protect Seniors' Property Tax Break

David Sawyer via Flickr

With home values rising state lawmakers are trying to maintain a special property tax exemption for low-income seniors.  The proposal goes to the voters in November.

Seniors who have lived in their home for twenty five years or more are eligible for an extra homestead exemption if their home is worth less than $250,000.  But what happens when the home’s value exceeds the cut off?  Leon County Deputy Property Appraiser Doug Will says a ballot proposal would lock the exemption in.

“So this, what this does is freeze the value of the house at $250,000,” he says, “if it is in that range the first year they apply for the exemption.”

The Florida Legislature placed the issue on this November’s ballot and last week Gov. Rick Scott approved the enacting legislation.  

Nick Evans came to Tallahassee to pursue a masters in communications at Florida State University. He graduated in 2014, but not before picking up an internship at WFSU. While he worked on his degree Nick moved from intern, to part-timer, to full-time reporter. Before moving to Tallahassee, Nick lived in and around the San Francisco Bay Area for 15 years. He listens to far too many podcasts and is a die-hard 49ers football fan. When Nick’s not at work he likes to cook, play music and read.