Tampa tax ruling resonates in Collier

A lawyer who won a groundbreaking property rights case in Hillsborough County that could force the state to compensate a family for its lost homestead tax break is now consulting homeowners in Southwest Florida.

Collier County officials have taken notice of the ruling, because they believe it has the potential to significantly add to the estimated $150 million price tag for the Vanderbilt Beach Road extension. At least 19 homes are expected to be taken for that project.

Other Southwest Florida road projects that result in eliminating homes also could be affected by the ruling.

Tampa lawyer Campbell McLean believes each of the property owners affected by the Vanderbilt extension has a strong case to ask for more money due to the loss of the "Save Our Homes" tax break.

McLean has been hired by owners of property that is slated to be bought out for the eastward extension of Vanderbilt Beach Road out to DeSoto Boulevard.

He also represents a family whose property was taken as part of the Interstate 275 project that cuts through Tampa.

Members of the Lounders family had lived in the home so many years that they paid little in property taxes due to the Save Our Homes property tax cap, which severely limits yearly tax increases on property with a homestead exemption.

McLean said that after the state forced the couple on a modest income to sell their home, and they moved into another one in the neighborhood, they were socked with a new $2,000-a-year tax bill.

A circuit judge in Hillsborough County (Tampa) agreed that the couple should be compensated for this lost tax break.

But the dollar amount remains unresolved.

The Florida Department of Transportation corresponded through e-mails that it might be willing to compensate the Lounders family for four or five years of lost tax cap, which is considered the average span of home ownership.

But McLean is arguing for the agency to compensate for the lost tax break for the remainder of the family's life.

A jury trial is scheduled for October to hear the case.

"How much (compensation) is going to be a question for the jury," McLean said.

McLean contends that the Lounderses should receive 26 years' worth of lost tax break, based on the average life expectancy of the youngest person who owned the home.

He said family members had every intention of living out their lives in that home.

McLean said DOT wants this case to land in the appellate court, because it could have statewide ramifications.

He said that appellate ruling might not come down until 2007.

The Collier County Commission has authorized staff to buy up land along the Vanderbilt Beach Road corridor out to Wilson Boulevard.

Staff would like work to begin by 2010, as three new schools are planned along this path.

McLean said the circuit judge's decision in Hillsborough County is not binding on the courts in Collier. But the appellate decision would be binding because Hillsborough County, like Lee and Collier counties, is in the 2nd District Court of Appeal.

Nonetheless, he said, county officials in Collier could offer homeowners here a dollar amount for the lost tax break regardless of the legal case up there.

"They can come up with their own way of valuing it, too. It could be a completely new way," he said.

Collier County commissioners recently debated the issue.

Commissioner Fred Coyle vented when he read a letter from a former county staff member who talked about the possibility of the county compensating for the lost tax break.

"This is something that disturbs me greatly," he said. "These are policy issues, and communications such as this, in my opinion, should only be made to the public once the board has approved the policy."

Coyle questioned how the county could calculate how much to compensate homeowners for this lost tax break.

He questioned whether it would be fair for the county to pay people for a lost Florida tax break if they decide to leave the state after selling.

"We don't know where those people are going to move. They might move to Tennessee, or North Carolina," Coyle said.

McLean said the compensation for the lost tax break should not be based on where the homeowner moves.

"What they do with the money has no bearing on the right that has been taken from them," McLean said. "They were forced to give up a valuable property right. They can invest that money into a new home, or they can go buy a mobile home and never own a home again. That is not the government's decisions to make."

Proposed legislation that would allow people whose homes are taken by eminent domain to transfer the tax break they had over to another new home they buy in Florida failed to make it through the state Legislature this year.

Lee County Property Appraiser Kenneth Wilkinson, who authored the Save Our Homes amendment, supports the legislation.

"That's a good solution. I think it's the right thing to do," he said.

Wilkinson said this issue wasn't contemplated when the Save Our Homes amendment was proposed.

County attorneys in Collier and Lee counties say they plan to study the case.

If the Lounders case makes it to the Lakeland-based 2nd District Court of Appeal, the ruling would be binding for both counties.

Assistant Lee County Attorney John Renner said the ruling probably won't affect the county coffers much in the short term, because most pending projects involve only partial property takings. He said this could have really added to the costs of the Veterans Parkway project, where many homes were taken.

He said in the long run, the county has some ambitious long-range transportation projects that will involve taking homes. And if the county has to pay out for the lost tax break, it could increase those costs substantially, especially if the county must pay for a lifelong loss.

"That could probably be very expensive," he said.

The Collier County attorney's office has reviewed the case.

"We're aware of case law," Assistant County Attorney Heidi Ashton said. "The argument will be considered part of the negotiation process" in buying up the Vanderbilt Beach Road tracts.