Every week, Mansion Global poses a tax question to real estate tax attorneys. Here is this week’s question.
Q: I’m considering relocating to Florida because of the attractive tax situation. Which counties have the lowest property taxes?
A: The new U.S. tax law caps state-and-local tax deductions at $10,000, so many homeowners are indeed looking to relocate to states with lower tax burdens, according real estate experts.
Florida is one of those states, but not because it has the country’s lowest property tax rates. The state has no personal income taxes, but it’s property tax rate is only slightly below the national average, said Daren Blomquist, a senior vice president at ATTOM Data Solutions in Irvine, California.
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Florida is "in the middle of the pack" as far as property tax rates, he said. The average rate is 1.09%, he said, compared to the national average of 1.7%, according to ATTOM’s analysis of 2017 property tax rates. Florida ranks 21st on the list of U.S. states with the highest property taxes, according to the report, which was released in April 2018.
Walton County had the lowest property tax rate, .69%, followed by Jackson County at .73% and Santa Rosa County at .77%. Bay and Monroe counties tied for the fourth least expensive county with a rate of .79%.
Three of the counties with the least expensive property tax rates—Walton, Santa Rosa and Bay—are clustered in the northwest area of the state, otherwise known as the panhandle, Mr. Blomquist said. The data was based on 43 of the 67 counties in Florida; counties with fewer than 10,000 single-family homes were not included.
The area of Fort Walton Beach in Walton County, Pensacola in Santa Rosa County and Panama City in Bay County "are the best in terms of tax rates and still have the benefit of being on the Gulf [of Mexico]," Mr. Blomquist said. Jackson County is also part of the panhandle but is inland and shares a border with Georgia.
But, when many people are thinking about a move to Florida, it’s southern Florida they have their eyes on. Those with aspirations of living on the Atlantic may want to look to Monroe County, which includes Key West and the rest of the Florida Keys.
Other areas in southern Florida have higher property tax rates. Miami-Dade County has a rate of 1.06%; its neighbor to the north, Broward County, which includes Fort Lauderdale, has a rate of 1.22%, according to the analysis.
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Alachua County, where Gainsville is located, has the highest property tax rate in Florida, 1.35%,
One thing to keep in mind is that municipalities within each county are entitled to ask taxpayers for more to pay for special initiatives, according to Leslie Evans of Leslie Robert Evans & Associates in Palm Beach.
Palm Beach County has the third-highest tax rate in Florida, 1.26%, according to ATTOM. But Mr. Evans said rates can be as high as 1.8% or 2% in the area, as towns add levies to cover costs within their own borders.
Check with the town to see what the actual local tax rate is, he recommended. Also, for those ready to call Florida home, the homestead exemption in Florida can help save on property taxes.
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