People move to Florida for many reasons. Sunshine, moderate temperatures (at least in the winter months), beaches… but a big reason a lot of people move here is because we do not pay a state income tax.
Whether you like them or not, taxes are a necessity. In the most general sense, taxes fund our infrastructure, institutions, and programs needed to run a community. Taxes pay for our schools, our roads, our emergency services like fire and police, and other things.
This is not to debate what we should or should not be assessed in taxes nor to define what they are allocated to support. But there needs to be a discussion about how we, as county residents, are assessed.
Per state statute, the property appraiser is permitted based on commission action to increase one’s property taxes at a maximum of 3%.
If you live in a municipality, like in the City of Stuart, you pay county taxes and city taxes. But you aren’t getting twice as much service for anything, though you are paying for, theoretically, two sets of roads, two sets of fire, emergency services, etc.
As a City resident, we don’t get better or more service because we pay more.
And when our taxes go up, regardless of where you live in Martin County, we don’t get better or more service.
We don’t get better paved roads. Traffic lights don’t become perfectly synced. Traffic congestion doesn’t go away. The libraries don’t get bigger and get more books. The police don’t become more available and compassionate. And the commissioners don’t become more educated.
Even though we pay for municipality services through our property taxes, there are layers to what happens in Florida. For example, some roads are the responsibility of the county while some are the responsibility state. Traffic lights are overseen by the Florida Department of Transportation but managed locally by the County. Stormwater management is approved at the local level but needs input and is overseen by a local water management district, like South Florida Water Management District, or the Department of Environmental Protection.
It is, admittedly, a very simplistic view, but important to tell the story about what’s happening in Martin County.
Creating and Balancing a Budget
The Martin County Property Appraiser has a job. They calculate the value of the properties so they know what to charge for property taxes. This money is needed to fund our local government’s efforts.
It totally makes sense.
According to the Martin County Comprehensive Plan, Objective 2.4A states “Martin County shall limit local tax burdens while funding facilities and services needed to maintain the quality of life and support services necessary for growth.”
Specifically it reads “Policy 2.4A.1. New development shall pay the cost of the facilities it requires. Impact fees, enterprise fund user charges, connection fees, and other user fees paid by new development shall be reviewed every two years to ensure that provision of capital improvements needed to address the impact of future development will not increase ad valorem tax rates.”
Yet it seems there are costs to the County to put in the new roads and water connections for many of these new developments. Sometimes the fees are reimbursed to the County, but sometimes they are mitigated because, well who knows why, though it’s often attributed to something having a “public benefit.” That happens because the comp plan states if “a public purpose is being served, the commission may pay impact fees with other county revenues.”
Mitigations mean a developer is paying less to the County for their project. And that means that money is not in the County coffers.
The County prepares their budget and since there is no guarantee when these developments being constructed will start paying for themselves as promised and advertised, coincidentally perhaps, in order for the County to balance their budget, property taxes go up.
What if no houses were ever sold?
If a house was bought in 2020 for $100,000 the homeowner would have received the services the County provides as part of the taxes they pay. And if the house sold in 2024 for $400,000, the new homeowner would receive those same services. The new homeowner doesn’t get $300,000 in more services based on the increased tax bill they pay.
Using the recently sold house that belonged to a sitting commissioner…
In March 2022, the house sold for $1,065,000.
The house was homesteaded and the 2022 tax bill was $7,380.96.
The homesteaded house in 2023 was revalued based on the sale price. The sale price now created a tax bill of $15,225.44.
It is impossible to think that this or any homeowner is getting $7,844.48 more in service. Are they getting more access to the police and emergency services? Are they getting a better selection of library books? Are they getting a police escort through the traffic lights?
No, they get nothing more than the previous homeowner got.
What about an agricultural exemption?
The Property Appraiser has decided that there is seemingly an abuse of parcels being labeled “agricultural” but are not.
According to the Martin County Property Appraiser’s office,
Agricultural classification is a real estate tax savings benefit for property owners that use their land primarily for bona fide commercial agricultural uses. “Bona fide use” means good faith, commercial agricultural use of the land with the intent of earning a profit from the production and sale of a farm product. Animals kept for petting zoos, sanctuaries, personal uses, hobbies, or education do not qualify.
This benefit results in the land being valued based on the probable income from normal agricultural use. This is often substantially less than market value. The agricultural use must be in place on or before January 1st of the year which the ag classification is requested. Only the land acreage that is being used for agriculture can receive this classification. This benefit does not apply to buildings. (Florida Statute 193.461)
There are basically three hurdles that need to be cleared to receive an agricultural exemption.
First there needs to be proof of a bona fide agricultural use.
Bona fide agricultural use is defined as commercial agricultural use with the intent to earn a profit from the production and sale of a farm product. Growing crops or keeping animals for personal consumption, donation, or as a hobby does not qualify someone for an agricultural exemption.
Second, there needs to be a declared intended commercial use for or activity on the land which requires a business license.
Commercial uses could include growing crops or raising livestock. It could also include the leasing of the land to a party who is unrelated to you for something like cattle grazing.
Lastly, there needs to be a recent filing for a Schedule F (Form 1040) with the IRS. It is used to report farm income and expenses.
While the State of Florida determines what constitutes a bona fide usage, the individual counties in Florida determine what is a “hobby” versus what is a primary business model.
For example, in Martin County, in order to be considered a purveyor of eggs, your chickens need to be in a chicken coop and not free range, even if your free-range chickens produce eggs that you sell.
“Free range chickens do not qualify as bona fide commercial agriculture. Chicken coops are generally too small by themselves to measure out for agricultural classification or primary use of the land.”
Interestingly, the Property Appraiser refers to the Florida Department of Agriculture Administrative Code 5K-4 specific to Egg Farm Production as a rationale, but that code does not mention that egg producing chickens can or cannot be free-range. That is a determination seemingly made by the County.
Regarding cattle, the Property Appraiser’s website states “a typical cattle operation has at least five (5) head and ten (10) acres to be considered a commercial herd and a minimum of one (1) cow per three (3) acres on parcels larger than twenty (20) acres.”
The situation at Trailside
An agricultural exemption means a landowner pays less in taxes than they would if the land were not exempted.
Currently there are five addresses in Trailside that are being targeted by the Martin County Property Appraiser as no longer qualifying for their agricultural exemption.
Trailside consists of 41 homesites, all of which are a minimum of 20 acres each. It is branded as an equestrian community with a strong homeowners association, though there are at least five addresses which previously applied for and received an agricultural exemption.
It is a gated, private community in western Martin County and is adjacent to PalMar.
Based on public records and emails, the Property Appraiser is questioning the activity taking place on these 5 parcels.
Based on the emails regarding these properties, there is some confusion at the Property Appraiser’s office.
In one case, the packet with the information needed to continue the agricultural exemption that existed for 18 years was dropped off. It was acknowledged in an email. However there is an email from an employee at the Property Appraiser’s office stating that they never received the packet.
But even if the packet were received and processed, the fact is that the Property Appraiser is removing agricultural exemptions to re-assess values and taxes owed.
I’m not going to debate the merits of the application or packet. What I would like to point out is the drastic difference in the taxes assessed if the Property Appraiser’s valuation held true.
Here is a mathematical breakdown of the property taxes at 1950 SW Trailside Run. The homeowner appealed to the Valuation Adjustment Board in Martin County specific to their exemption being adjusted. You can see the assessed taxes increase with the removal of the agricultural exemption.
What is Trailside not getting in return?
What most people don’t know about Trailside is that when there is an incident or accident in PalMar, the Martin County Sheriff uses Trailside for staging and access.
Trailside is a gated, private community.
So when there is an emergency in PalMar, Trailside opens the gate to allow emeregency vehicles and personnel in. There is a system set up to notify residents. It’s a courtesy provided allowing emergency vehicles to access the private roads and private properties that are privately maintained to provide assistance to those in need.
There have also been documented cases of the sheriff’s helicopter and medivac landing there when needed.
Should Trailside bill the Martin County Sheriffs Office and Fire Department for using their land for access to PalMar? Should the Property Appraiser give a discount to the residents for using their land?
There is no benefit other than goodwill for Trailside to let emergency vehicles in to help those who need it.
And that shouldn’t affect any property owner’s use assigned by the Property Appraiser. If there is no bona fide agricultural use of the properties, I get it. Reassess the values and charge them accordingly.
The point is it feels like the five homeowners at Trailside (and quite a few in Palm City) are being targeted to make up a financial difference because the County is not collecting all the fees from developers it should while simultaneously allocating money to subsidize private for-profit enterprises, like a train station and settling lawsuits it shouldn’t because it never should have entertained the proposals to begin with. But the budget items are never fully discussed in the Commission meetings so we are left to speculate and suppose instead of truly being informed.
Now what?
A few years ago, there was a similar effort made by the Property Appraiser specific to homes in Indiantown. There are stories of farmers who had their land for decades, including established cattle ranchers, who were being asked to show their tax forms as someone from the Property Appraiser’s office literally counted heads of cattle as they used a measuring tape to calculate the acreage being used for farming versus the portion being used for a residence.
Some residents chose to have their exemption expire. Others were adamant and stood their ground.
Is there abuse by some to get an agricultural exemption? Sure.
And scrutiny will surely help weed out those violating or taking advantage of the exemption.
As it was said to me, those at the Property Appraiser’s office “can’t see the forest through the trees.”
Or in this case, they can’t see the required at least five cattle on more than ten acres and a minimum of one cow per three acres on twenty acres of dairy cows that I witnessed myself at one of the disputed properties in Trailside.
As I said, this is not to say what should or shouldn’t be assessed in taxes. There are ideas floating around Tallahassee about removing property taxes. And that comes with its own issues and problems because the money has to come from somewhere.
The point is that every year we pay more in taxes. And we don’t get better and we don’t get more, no matter what you pay for a house.