Aren property taxes in Alachua County already very high?
Under Amendment 1, which was passed in January of 2008, the average Florida homeowner will actually pay about $240 less per year in property taxes beginning in January of 2010. The proposed one-mill increase for schools would cost the average homeowner in Alachua County about $125 a year, or $10 a month. One thing many citizens don’t realize is that unlike their county or city taxes, by far the largest portion of their school taxes is actually set by the state, not the local school board. Every year the state requires each district to levy a certain property tax rate in order to get its share of state dollars. During 2008-09, about 60% of your school property tax rate was actually mandated by the Florida Legislature. Many people also don’t realize that their school property tax rate has actually gone down in Alachua County for the last ten years. Property values have increased, but that is not something the School Board controls. Even taking into account those higher property values, s
