Governor DeSantis is pushing very hard to eliminate or reduce property taxes or at lease provide some relief for the most egregious tax there is across Florida. He realizes that property tax is rent. You never own your home, no one owns property in Florida while a taxing authority can take your property for non-payment of the property tax.
So, the governor is doing his best to remedy this overburdening tax for homeowners. Property tax is the most regressive tax since it is not tied to income or ability to pay. If your property appreciates, goes up in value, you get nothing until you sell it. But Lady Lake wants you to pay more and more and more even if your income is fixed! Get it? You have to pay or they take your property which means they ALWAYS GET PAID SOONER OR LATER!
Oh, they give reductions, but even with the low-income, veteran, widow and homestead exemptions taxes still go UP – by the same percentages! The only limitation is how much they can raise in ONE YEAR after that they just keep adding it on each year thereafter until you are up to the full increase and saying “We did not raise the rates this year!” Correct, they are just catching up within the annual limit until you pay it all and they know they will get you in the end because they do. And boy do the nonresident owners get it all in one year!
Therefore, if you think you own your house because you do not have a mortgage, think again, fail to pay your property tax and you will find out very quickly who owns your house and it isn’t you! It is whoever levies the property taxes which in Florida is the county and local community where you live!
AT their last meeting Lady Lake Commissioners unanimously approved a 7.12%. INCREASE IN PROPERTY TAXES FOR 2025. This increase is ALLOWED BY LAW because every one of the Commissioners voted YES to NOT ROLL BACK taxes as indicated by the State. Now the Lady Lake property tax rate is 18% OVER THE STATE ROLL BACK RATE AS OF 2024 AND NOW ANOTHER WHOPPING 7.12%.
In Florida, when assessed values increase so much that the current tax rate generates more tax revenue than the prior year, the roll back is indicated to limit the impact on taxpayers, many of whom are on fixed income. NOT IN LADY LAKE, there are no limits! THEY LOVE PROPERTY TAXES! Has any commissioner questioned the huge increase in the Lady Lake budget the last seven years? Or why we keep exceeding the roll back rate by more than 18%. Anyone! Their theory is, if you got it – spend it even if the taxpayers struggle to pay – no worries. No limits in Lady Lake on anything. They continue to annex and approve as much as they can constantly growing the budget and taking advantage of the huge increase in assessed property values to the detriment of the citizens. The Lady Lake budget is now funded to about 27% by property tax.
In the case of Lady Lake, it is even worse since they approved a 7.5% rate increase in 2024 along with extending their own terms without having to stand for re-election. Don’t believe me look at your tax bill. So, in the last two years (7.5% on 2024 and 7.12% in 2025) Lady Lake property tax revenue has increase a whopping 14.62% without the inclusion of new development growth in assessed value – that does not count! So, they will get all of that increase regardless of the tax rate roll-back requirement. While voters gave them new four-year terms, they gave residents 14.62% tax increase in just two years while assessed values went up $146,723,528 in one year.
Now they can avoid the consequences of their actions since they don’t have to run and face voter discontent for four years before voters can send them packing. I commented on the tax rate increase, the term increase and term extensions on last year’s ballot, before the elections, when the roll back rate was 18% over – no one cared! It passed overwhelmingly! Do you care now? Apparently, Lady Lake residents love having taxes increased by 14.62% in two years while property tax revenue has already increased by about 65% over the prior seven years due to annexations, growth and increases in assessed values. Yahoo! Keep it coming, because Lady Lake taxpayers love what you are doing.
The Lady Lake Commission obviously has the support of the community or they would be reacting. Got to give them credit, the troops are in line!
Every single one of them supported the term increase, term extension and the tax increases from what I can remember. And now they all support this new increase in 2025. Wait, are they raising their salaries too? By the way, has there ever been a tax decrease under this group? Dissent is not happening on the Lady Lake Commission – no one asks questions and no one cares!
Now you know why they wanted those term increases. This gang of five is in full agreement on everything and voters agree too! Talk about co-operation in government! Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes! What more could we ask for?
My two cents.
Robert Nyce is a resident of the Village of La Reynalda, which is within the Town of Lady Lake.