Crist's landlord raised rent; will local government's pay the price?

To get handle on why state leaders are ready to crack down on local-government taxing, look no further than Gov. Charlie Crist's landlord.

Lawrence A. Compton was caught wrongfully claiming a homestead exemption on the St. Petersburg condo he rented to Crist, and was then assessed a higher tax bill. He then did what virtually every other landlord does: "He had to pass it on to his tenant, the governor," Crist said.

More here.

Comments

[BadBob]

The question the press should be asking is whether the landlord was retroactively charged for all of the years that he ILLEGALLY claimed homestead on a property that he was not only not living in as his primary residence but was actually renting out for profit? The story makes is look like the property owner got a new bill going forward even though the exemption had been improperly claimed for years.

In fact, if you read the card that comes every year from the property appraiser, it says that if the property appraiser determines that you received the exemption improperly that you can be charged the back taxes plus 15% interest and 50% more as a penalty. Since the difference isn't just the $25,000 exemption but the Save Our Homes Cap as well, the retroactive charge should have been many thousands of dollars.

[photo-restoration-services]

I like this article very much. Please keep update me about this subject more. :-) Alex