Florida is worth more than $3.12 trillion.
It was worth that much on Sept. 30, and has been adding value since.
This, and a whole lot more valuable and interesting information, is available in a new report from the Property Appraiser’s Office.
The appraiser, Jerry Holland, had all the information compiled and it shows the city is growing in value, a trend other sources indicate is increasing of late.
That’s good news for property owners but it also means they are generating a lot more cash for politicians to spend.
The pols aren’t shy about spending it, either.
The city hasn’t exactly been on an austerity plan since Mayor Lenny Curry took office. His last budget will be coming up later this year and we don’t expect it to be much different.
Jacksonville’s share of the state’s $3.12 trillion in property value is $122.8 billion and that was up from $79 billion in 2012. The total value dropped during the next year but has been rising steadily since then.
Tax revenue to the city has been rising as well.
Curry and the City Council have not increased the tax rate, but they haven’t lowered it either, while raising other taxes.
As a result, the city government took in $824 million in property taxes during 2020, while the school system collected $500 million. Lesser amounts went to the four other cities in Duval County, the water management district and the inland navigation district. The total extracted from local pockets was $1.4 billion.
Since 2013 the average market value of a single family home in the county has been rising steadily, as well as the number of them.
In 2021 the average value of a home was $195,387.
Commercial real estate also matters. It is only 11 percent of the parcels, but accounts for 40 percent of the taxable value. The largest tax producer is the St. Johns Town Center.
The property appraiser’s job is to establish the fair market value of every parcel of property in the city.
To his credit, Holland has hired a private contractor to track down people not complying with the law by improperly claiming exemptions. That has produced $11 million in revenue since he took office and it isn’t always chicken feed: one owner was slapped with a tax lien of more than $102,000.
Everyone should pay his fair share of the taxes and politicians should look upon the tax revenue as that necessary to fund government operations, not a pot of gold to be used for buying voters.
