What South Floridians pay in property taxes
Bottom Line: Knowing your numbers when it comes to your finances is always a good idea. When it comes to your property taxes, it’s especially important. It’s as simple as this. If you don’t pay your property taxes, you’ll lose your home. If you can’t afford to pay your property taxes, you’ll lose your home. Unfortunately, due to the pandemic, millions of Floridians are at risk of losing their home. According to a July Census state-by-state study 30.8%, or 3.6 million Floridians have either missed a mortgage or rent payment or are expected to within a month. That makes the conversation involving property taxes that much more important. Soon we’ll receive our proposed property taxes. It’s as important as ever that we consider what we’ve actually paying and paying for. For example, the top cost for Floridians – our schools. Yet Broward, Miami Dade and Palm Beach Counties aren’t offering classroom education options which have been and are being paid for by these taxes. What’s more, is many families who are at risk of losing their homes are in that position due to the inability to seek work while having to remain at home with their children. And then there’s this to consider. Where are the highest property taxes in Florida? You guessed it, South Florida.
Here’s how our property taxes compare:
- Florida average: $1,773
- Broward: $2,664
- Miami-Dade: $2,756
- Palm Beach County: $2,679
The average property tax bill in South Florida is approximately 52% higher than the state average and taxes for schools/teachers are generally the highest property tax expense at 35%-40% of the average property tax bill. How would you feel if you paid hundreds, perhaps thousands of dollars for products in a store but they didn’t provide you with everything you paid for? Evaluate your property tax bill, which is 50%+ higher than our neighbors across the state and evaluate whether you feel you’re getting everything you’ve paid for – starting with education. With nearly a third of Floridians at risk of losing their homes, in part due to those taxes, this should be a conversation front and center in the discussion of the reopening of our schools.