Why Your Tax Bill Is Increasing

If you’ve noticed your tax bill has increased, you’re not alone.

Joining me today is Whitney Loggins from First Down Mortgage to discuss two questions we’ve been receiving quite a bit recently: “Why are my tax bills going up, and why are my mortgage payments rising?” Property taxes in Florida are generally paid in November, so at the beginning of the year, mortgage companies do escrow analyses of people’s mortgages. They do all the accounting work to see if they overestimated or underestimated the tax bill. When you close on your house, the mortgage company estimates what the taxes will be, but when the bill comes out, they could be much higher. 

Feel free to watch the full message above, or use these timestamps that will direct you to various points in the video:

0:00 — Introduction to today’s topic

1:10 — Why your tax bill is different than you thought it would be

2:10 — Once your homestead exemption is done, you’ll be taxed at a higher rate

3:10 — If someone new owns the property, the county will reassess it at the start of the new year

4:10 — How taxes of a property are assessed

5:00 — When you purchase a home, apply for the homestead exemption if you can

5:40 — Wrapping up today’s topic

If you have questions about your taxes or mortgage payments, call or email me. If I can’t answer your questions, I’ll put you in contact with Whitney who may be able to dive deeper. We would both love to help you in any way we can.