Pinellas County
Clearwater Florida Real Estate Investors and Home Owners Could be Winners Tomorrow
January 28th, 2008 Categories: Clearwater Beach Florida, Clearwater Florida, Community News, Pinellas County, Real Estate News, Tampa Bay
Tomorrow is more than just Super Tuesday in the Presidential Primary Election and local elections here in Clearwater Florida and the Beaches.
In the state of Florida we have another big issue that will get decided on by Tampa Bay residents - it is Florida Constitutional Amendment 1 that has 4 components that will affect our future property taxes if it passes with 60% of the voters voting YES!
Provision #3 is the one most of my real estate investors and second home owners are watching since it will provide much needed help to our non-homestead Clearwater Beach property owners.
Remember when you vote it’s ALL or NOTHING! If the Amendment passes it will be retroactive to January 1, 2008. So I will give you an overview of the four Provisions Amendment 1 covers:
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Pinellas County Florida Beaches offer Fun, Sun and amazing Sunday Sunsets
January 27th, 2008 Categories: Pinellas County, Sunday Sunsets, Tampa Beach Living, Tierra Verde Florida
Pinellas County Florida is a Warm and Wonderful Place to Live
Pinellas County Florida – Ok, I have shared the many times how we have camped and enjoyed hanging out at Fort DeSoto Park and beach at the southermost point of Pinellas County. Every time I’m there I am so thankful that our county forefathers preserved so much green space and public beaches for the people of Pinellas County. (approx 1 million people live here).
This sunset photo was taken off the southernmost point along the beach where the channel connects Tampa Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. It’s not uncommon to see huge ships and tankers going in and out of the Port of Tampa here.
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Clearwater Real Estate Guide to What Your Property Taxes Will Be | Part 2
January 11th, 2008 Categories: Pinellas County, Real Estate News
Clearwater Real Estate Guide to Understanding Your Pinellas Property Taxes
Clearwater Florida –This is a busy time of year for Clearwater Florida Real Estate because when winter hits our northern friends from places like Canada, Michigan, Maryland many of them start thinking about our “Sunshine State” and that warm winter home they’ve been dreaming of buying.
While we do have many Clearwater real estate bargains right now, buyers still need to understand how our property taxes work and how they affect the total cost of owership, especially if this is your second home. I’d like to Guide to Understanding your Property Taxes.
The number one question we get asked when helping people buy property in Clearwater Florida is “How much will my property taxes be?”
What is Millage and How does it affect my Property Taxes?
In our article yesterday, Clearwater Florida Home Buyers Guide to Pinellas Property Tax Values - Part 1, we explained how the Pinellas County Property Appraiser first has to determine your Tampa Bay property’s “taxable value”. Now once you know the taxable value we’ll show you how to calculate/estimate what your property taxes will be.
Before we work the math and determine what your you should plan for regarding property taxes, let me take a minute to explain what “millage” is and how it works.
Millage is the tax rate used to fund the budgets of the 49 taxing authorities including local goverments, fire districts, libraries, Water management, Pinellas County School Board and more to determine what we are required to pay each year.
Each tax authority is allocated a part of the millage and when it’s all added together you get the that year’s millage rate. Because the millage rate includes local goverments and special developement districts it will vary from city to city and even within the same city (see list below). So the taxes that Clearwater property owners pay will be slightly different withing the City of Clearwater and it will also be different from those that own St Petersburg homes and condos.
Millage is how much you will pay for every $1000 of taxable value.
Here are the formulas used to calculate how much property tax you are going to have to pay each year. We covered the first 3 formulas in yesterday’s article so now we’ll work through some real life examples…
Pinellas County Property Tax Formulas
- Property is Purchased or Appraised for the year
- Market Value/Just Value (Capped by the Save our Homes Cap) = Assessed Value;
- Assessed Value – Exemptions = Taxable Value;
- Taxable Value x Millage Rate / 1000 = Gross Property Taxes for the year
What was the 2007 Tax Rate | Millage for Clearwater Florida?
You can see the complete breakdown for all 45 tax districts and their Millage Rates for 2007. Here are some of the communities I’m asked about most often.
You can see that in Pinellas County the property taxes can be as much as $9.00 per $1000 depending on where the property is. Also note that several cities have multiple taxing districts like Clearwater and St Petersburg so you’ll have to check which on correlates to the property you want to buy. This year Belleair Shore has the cheapest and Lealman has the most with St Petersburg Florida next.
- 15.2249 Belleair Shore
- 16.0105 North Redington Beach Florida
- 16.6793 Belleair Beach Florida
- 16.7289 Indian Rocks Beach Florida
- 16.8594 Indian Shores Florida
- 17.1356 St Pete Beach
- 18.6284 Tierra Verde Florida
- 18.8191 Dunedin TR
- 19.7990 Dunedin FID, TR
- 18.9108 Largo Florida
- 19.4725 Tarpon Springs FID TR
- 19.5683 Tarpon Springs TR
- 19.6092 Palm Harbor Florida
- 19.6516 Clearwater FID TR
- 19.9371 Clearwater TR
- 20.9022 Clearwater Downtown Dev Brd, TR
- 21.1719 St Petersburg Florida TR
- 23.8983 St Petersburg PIN PK WTR MGT TR
- 24.2079 Lealman FIR PP WTR MGMT TR
How much will I pay in Property Taxes this year?
Let’s calculate what your Clearwater Property taxes would be using the highest tax district. In our example what would the taxes if th taxable value is $100,000?
Assume Taxable value = $100,000 Clearwater Millage Rate = 20.9022
Formula: Taxable Value x Millage Rate / 1000 = Gross Taxes
$100,000 Clearwater Home with No Homestead Exemption
Example 1: $100,000 x 20.9022 /1000 = $2,092.20 annually which = $174.35/month
$100,000 Clearwater Home with Homestead Exemption
Now if you buy a Clearwater home and it qualifies for Florida’s Homestead Exemption (Assessed Value – $25,000) then on a $100,000 Clearwater Home your taxable value would be $75,000.
Example 2: ($100,000–$25,000) x (20.9022 /1000) = $1,567.67 annually which = $130.64/month
So if you are buying a $500,000 Clearwater Beach Condo and it doesn’t qualify for Florida’s Homestead exemption then your annual taxes would be approximately $10,450.00 or $870.73/month.
Next we’ll discuss the upcoming Constitutional Amendment and how that may help lower our property taxes.
I’m curious, did this help you understand our Pinellas Property taxes better? Anything you’d like to see added?
Want to See Clearwater Condos or Homes?
Are you looking to buy Clearwater property where you can enjoy our finest pool homes, our Tampa Bay green golf course neighborhoods, playing tennis all year long and entertaining at local country clubs during the winter or all year round? Need an easy commute to Tampa? How about a Tampa Bay waterfront home close to our Tampa Bay Beaches? We will help you find your dream home, condo, villa or town home. Here’s what some of our past clients have to say about how we helped them….
Buyers tell us that selecting the best Clearwater Real Estate Agent, online or from a distance, can be a challenge. Some of our past clients agreed to share their experiences and tell you why they think you should work with us.
Click on the photos below and meet some of our clients and now friends…we’d love to be YOUR choice too! 
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The above information and images are Copyright © 2007 Jack and Cyndee Haydon, REALTORS and your Clearwater Florida Real Estate Consultants and may not be copied, reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed or published. All rights reserved. Plagiarism will be detected and is punishable by law.
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