Young homeowners outraged by high property tax bills

The Orlando Sentinel reports:

Robert Hickok, 29, of Delray Beach recently joined Citizens Urging for Total Tax Education & Reform, a group pressuring the Palm Beach County Commission to reign in spending.

He says the current property tax system pits various generations against one another.

"That's a really big beef with me. I'm 29, just starting out, only three years out of school, and I'm paying close to $4,500 in property taxes," complains Hickok, who lives in a three-bedroom house with his wife and 16-month-old daughter. "Then I look at my parents. They've got a lot more money than me. They don't have kids in the house anymore. Their house is paid for. And they pay $2,000 a year."

Under Florida law, new homeowners pay taxes on close to the full value of their home. Long-time homeowners who bought before the real estate boom pay much lower taxes on otherwise identical homes because of a Save Our Homes constitutional amendment that limits their tax increase to 3 percent a year.

John Rawls' Theory of Justice in action.