Tax breaks for fixer-uppers are going to riverfront elite

[JeffreyS]

I wonder if wealthier people taking advantage of the program has prevented those who were intended to use these breaks?

[Dog Walker]

I took advantage of this five years ago when we rehabbed a condemned building that was a blight on the neighborhood into our home and office.

This incentive only covers county property taxes, not school or other taxes which are actually higher.  It was a help with the affordability of the project as it saves us a few thousand dollars a year.  Five years to go.

[Noone]

By RON LITTLEPAGE, The Times-Union

Good ideas can go sour and people who have much usually get more.  Here are examples:

In 1992, Florida voters approved a constitutional amendment that gave local governments the authority to give property tax breaks to encourage the preservation of historic buildings.

Two years later, the Jacksonville City Council passed an ordinance putting that process in motion.

One of the ordinance's sponsors, Harry Reagan, recalls that the goal was "modest restoration and renovation" of houses in struggling historic neighborhoods like Springfield and Riverside.

Homeowners who qualified would be exempt from paying city property taxes on the value added to their homes by the renovations. The exemption would last for 10 years.

It was a good idea for helping to preserve Jacksonville's past and to restore older neighborhoods. But, my oh my, modest has become, in some cases, ridiculous.

According to records provided by the Duval County Property Appraiser's Office, 345 properties will qualify for historic rehabilitation exemptions for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1.

The total value of those exemptions is $44.3 million. If that value were on the tax rolls, it would produce $375,000 in city property taxes next year, money that might just be useful, considering the current budget crunch.

Topping the list with the biggest single exemption for historic rehabilitation - $2.2 million - is San Jose Country Club. That's right, a private country club.

But that's not the only case where this deal has gone astray.

A four-bedroom, five-bath home with 5,000 square feet on the riverfront in Avondale is getting an exemption worth $618,000.

Another Avondale riverfront home - this one with six bedrooms and five baths and 8,000 square feet - has a $583,000 exemption.

And yet another Avondale home on the river - with similar dimensions - carries an exempt value of $582,000.

I'm just taking a wild guess here that the owners of these historic Avondale homes weren't going to let them deteriorate and fall into the river if the tax breaks hadn't been there.

And these aren't the only examples of the owners of valuable riverfront homes bellying up to the bar for tax savings.

A riverfront home in Ortega, for example, is getting a $508,000 exemption.

Reagan said he "winced" when he began hearing about such tax breaks.

"I don't think that's what we had in mind," he said.

Reagan suggested that the current City Council might want to consider new legislation that would cap how much the exemptions can be.

Good idea.

That might get the original good idea back on track.

By the way, the biggest winner, according to the Property Appraiser records, is Vestcor, the owner of The Carling and 11 E. Forsyth.

The just value for both downtown apartment buildings: $24.7 million. The total exemptions for all of the apartments: $18.4 million.

ron.littlepage@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4284

full article: http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/081607/opl_191702648.shtml

Budget time. What are the numbers 4 years later? Are we getting ready to expand these zones?

DW it sounds like you hit the triple. Building, Home, and Office all in one. Good for you.

I hope Ron does a follow up story. Somebody. The 345 properties have grown to what today?

This was being addressed 4 years ago.

[Noone]

By RON LITTLEPAGE, The Times-Union

Good ideas can go sour and people who have much usually get more.  Here are examples:

In 1992, Florida voters approved a constitutional amendment that gave local governments the authority to give property tax breaks to encourage the preservation of historic buildings.

Two years later, the Jacksonville City Council passed an ordinance putting that process in motion.

One of the ordinance's sponsors, Harry Reagan, recalls that the goal was "modest restoration and renovation" of houses in struggling historic neighborhoods like Springfield and Riverside.

Homeowners who qualified would be exempt from paying city property taxes on the value added to their homes by the renovations. The exemption would last for 10 years.

It was a good idea for helping to preserve Jacksonville's past and to restore older neighborhoods. But, my oh my, modest has become, in some cases, ridiculous.

According to records provided by the Duval County Property Appraiser's Office, 345 properties will qualify for historic rehabilitation exemptions for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1.

The total value of those exemptions is $44.3 million. If that value were on the tax rolls, it would produce $375,000 in city property taxes next year, money that might just be useful, considering the current budget crunch.

Topping the list with the biggest single exemption for historic rehabilitation - $2.2 million - is San Jose Country Club. That's right, a private country club.

But that's not the only case where this deal has gone astray.

A four-bedroom, five-bath home with 5,000 square feet on the riverfront in Avondale is getting an exemption worth $618,000.

Another Avondale riverfront home - this one with six bedrooms and five baths and 8,000 square feet - has a $583,000 exemption.

And yet another Avondale home on the river - with similar dimensions - carries an exempt value of $582,000.

I'm just taking a wild guess here that the owners of these historic Avondale homes weren't going to let them deteriorate and fall into the river if the tax breaks hadn't been there.

And these aren't the only examples of the owners of valuable riverfront homes bellying up to the bar for tax savings.

A riverfront home in Ortega, for example, is getting a $508,000 exemption.

Reagan said he "winced" when he began hearing about such tax breaks.

"I don't think that's what we had in mind," he said.

Reagan suggested that the current City Council might want to consider new legislation that would cap how much the exemptions can be.

Good idea.

That might get the original good idea back on track.

By the way, the biggest winner, according to the Property Appraiser records, is Vestcor, the owner of The Carling and 11 E. Forsyth.

The just value for both downtown apartment buildings: $24.7 million. The total exemptions for all of the apartments: $18.4 million.

ron.littlepage@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4284

full article: http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/081607/opl_191702648.shtml

Budget time. What are the numbers 4 years later? Are we getting ready to expand these zones?

DW it sounds like you hit the triple. Building, Home, and Office all in one. Good for you.

I hope Ron does a follow up story. Somebody. The 345 properties have grown to what today?

This was being addressed 4 years ago.

Times Union, Folio, Metro Jacksonville, Property Appraisers Office, Transition team, Business Journal, Chamber, JCCI study- Our Money, Our City, Financing Jacksonville's Future. Anybody now what the stats are 4 years later? Budget release in 4 days.

[Noone]

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[Noone]

??
Secret Jacksonville Waterways Commission Committee meeting on the secret 12 projects for FIND in 6 hours 4th floor city hall.
Anyone going?
And a partridge in a pear tree!
And a golden parachute for each Authority!

Next day. DIA Board meeting 2012-674 new parking guidelines for 20 sq. mile area.
2012-202.
Free parking for council members and judges.
The Northbank TIF has been depleted till 2017 and this was revealed at the last DIA CRA Committee strategy meeting 11/14/12

Palms Fish Camp- Who will be getting a $2,000,000 dollar payday for that non historic structure and they never even opened up the door?

We just had to let go of 150 city worker bees and we are reducing library hours.
Who wants to be a 501-c?