Miami’s Preliminary 2009 Tax Roll

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This week the Miami Dade County Property Appraiser published the 2009 Preliminary Tax Roll. So now it’s official, the countywide taxable value of existing properties has declined by 13 percent, to $222.1 billion. With an adjustment of $8.4 billion in new construction value, this represents a net decline of $23.4 billion or 9.5 percent over the the previous year’s taxable value.

For those of us in Miami’s real estate circles, this announcement is very disappointing. Miami’s Property Appraiser, Pedro J. Garcia, was appointed to office just a few months ago. With Garcia’s promises that the “department will take a look at comparable sales, foreclosures and short sales in a community to establish the right value of properties in each market area,” he has fallen way short of this commitment.

Let’s consider the Appraiser’s taxable value percentage changes from 2008 to 2009 - 

• Miami Beach declined 8.2 percent
• The City of Miami declined 6.4 percent
• Miami Shores declined 13.5 percent
• Sunny Isles Beach declined 2.6 percent
• Homestead declined 24.7 percent

When I posted the blog titled Property Tax Front Lines earlier this year, it was this exact outcome that I feared. I don’t suppose our elected officials have attempted to quality a first time home buyer that is interested in purchasing a bank owned property lately. 

Let’s consider the example of the bank owned, single family residence located at 11205 NE 8 Ave in Biscayne Park, with an asking price of $179,500. With a 2008 assessed value of $299,921, annual property taxes in the amount $9,455.97 and monthly tax payments of $788, how are most people supposed to feel comfortable taking on this huge tax liability? There is no clear directive that a foreclosure sale will be considered a market sale, so I assume they just expect us to convince the buyer to take a swing and hope for the best.  

While our elected officials do not want to deal with reality, the rest of us have to swallow the dreaded real estate tax pill to support crony capitalism. Please, make your voices heard!

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