Committee to Find Solution to Property Tax Mess

Property Tax

The property tax reform committee was created by Gov. Bush to propose fixes to the tax system and some of its inequities.

Those problems include people who are stuck in their homes because they're protected by Save Our Homes cap. That limits property tax increases to 3 percent a year. But you lose that protection if you move.

People who recently moved pay thousands more in taxes than they did in their old houses - while neighbors who moved in years ago pay far less.

And the 3 percent cap doesn't apply to commercial property owners and winter residents.

Some of the fixes the committee will look at include making the tax cap 'portable,' allowing homeowners to move to a new home without getting socked in the wallet. Another proposal is to double the homestead exemption to $50,000.

The committee will meet from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the Hillsborough County Commission Chambers, on Kennedy Boulevard in downtown Tampa.