SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. – Seminole County is joining the list of local governments who will no longer give tax breaks to developers who offer affordable housing.
Under Florida’s “Live Local Act,” tax exemptions are available for properties that meet certain criteria. Any complex could save 75% on its property tax bill if it’s less than five years old and offers at least 70 units for affordable housing. Rent for those units would be considered “affordable” for people earning up 80 to 120% of the median annual adjusted gross income.
Communities do have the power to opt out of the exemption, if they have enough affordable units. Seminole County does qualify, and Tuesday commissioners voted unanimously to pass a resolution to opt out.
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“This is not addressing affordable housing. That still stands,” said Commissioner Amy Lockhart. “We have lots of things in our county to try to incentivize affordable housing. This is not that.”
Governor Ron DeSantis signed the “Live Local Act” into law last year. It was passed by the legislature in an effort to boost affordable housing options across the state.
Commissioners in Seminole County agreed that the “Live Local Act” is well-intentioned but pointed out problems with the end result. Primarily, that there is no guarantee the savings the apartment owner sees from the tax exemption is passed down to the renter.
Property Appraiser David Johnson showed commissioners the list of properties and the possible savings for apartment owners if every eligible property took advantage of the tax exemption offered under “Live Local.”
“The tax dollars that are generated from those 3,800 units for your general fund is over $4 million a year,” said David Johnson. “It’s real money at some point.”
Chairman Jay Zembower says if the exemption was fully taken advantage of, the county would have to cut $4 million worth of services to make up for it.
“That would be a shortfall of revenue coming in,” said Zembower. “Which means if we don’t collect the proper amount of revenue for the services we are providing, then we have to look at things like libraries, sidewalks that don’t get done, roads that don’t get repaired.”
Zembower says taxpayers shouldn’t have to take on that burden.
There are three apartment communities in Seminole County that are already approved for the exemption this year: Integra Crossing, Vue on Lake Monroe, and Watervue Apartments. And Zembower says the county is already working on other solutions to address rising rents and the need for affordable options.
“We’ve done a lot of things,” said Zembower. “We’ve got down payment assistance. We’re working with irregular lots. So, we’ve tasked our staff to go identify every piece of property in the county that the county owns that could be used for affordable housing and then talk to people like Habitat for Humanity and put it in the hands of them to build that. We also have density bonuses in our land development code, and we have impact fee waivers.”
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