For decades, it has been an office and the arm of the county that determined the property values, the first step in the budgetary process of the county, the school board, and municipalities.
That all changed on Jan. 7 due to Amendment 10, passed by voters in 2018 and effectuated by the November election. As one of the five new countywide elected constitutional officers, I focused my campaign on the independence of this office and the changes that the property appraiser would be able to make.
Specifically, I explained how the new office of the property appraiser could move beyond the ministerial application of county policy to making policy changes internally and advocating for statewide changes that could help Miami-Dade residents of all generations with our current affordability crisis.
Our work really began on Nov. 6, when we started the separation negotiations with Miami-Dade County. My priority was to reassure the workforce that while our office was changing, they were needed, valued, and an essential part of the office’s success.
This included negotiations with Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, her administration, and the department unions. I decided to accept the current union contract because it provides stability and continuity for employees and to reopen the same for re-negotiations on Jan. 8.
I look forward to working with our union partners and having them support my reorganization of the office.
In the weeks that followed, I met with many elected officials, focusing on the policy changes that I know are needed to prevent Miami-Dade from becoming like Monroe County and other areas where only a few thousand residents have homestead exemptions and workers are unable to live in the county where they work.
Miami-Dade has been a haven for many like me who came with nothing but a willingness to work hard towards the American dream. Today, that dream is less attainable with every passing day because of elevated housing costs and property valuations.
You might ask yourself, what can the property appraiser do to make Miami-Dade properties more affordable? While demand drives property prices, one of the reasons for escalating land values is that currently the sole factor to determine land value is its highest and best use.
As a county department, the office of the property appraiser held to this mantra even though Florida Statute 193.011 clearly states that the highest and best use is one of eight factors that can be considered but not the sole factor in determining the just value of real property.
This is significant because, for example, the other factors include location and the condition of the property which allows the property appraiser to consider sea level rise, stormwater management and other factors that in some cases should be considered when establishing valuation.
Similarly, not every case that the property appraiser loses before the Value Adjustment Board should be automatically appealed. Sometimes, we make mistakes, and we should learn from those cases rather than prolong litigation.
It is a small but impactful first step towards aligning tax vehicles that were created decades ago, when you could buy a home for $60,000, with the current housing market. The alignment of exemptions to current housing prices would help residents stay in their homes instead of being forced to sell them and move out of Miami-Dade because they can’t afford to pay the taxes.
I am working with members of our Miami-Dade delegation to present bills during this legislative session which would update portability, providing residents with the ability to downsize without having to leave Florida. This change would increase housing inventory and provide mobility by updating portability options so that retirees have options.
Our new independent office of the property appraiser cannot single-handedly resolve the Miami-Dade housing crisis, but we can diligently chip away at it and demand that our local government and state partners support us and do the same.