Retirees getting caught in South Florida’s property tax squeeze:

MIAMI – June 7, 2007 – After Kimrey Newlin retired two years ago, he and his wife moved closer to their grandkids, leaving the $1.2 million Key Biscayne house they had lived in for 27 years for a $545,000 home in the Falls.

Now they're 10 blocks from the kids, and a hand-painted lawn ornament in the front yard declares: "Grandma's House. Kids Spoiled Here. Cookies and Milk."

But the Newlins are paying for the move. Although the new place costs less than half the old one, their property taxes jumped to $9,000 from $6,400.

The couple are among a large and diverse group of seniors who find Florida's property-tax crisis especially vexing. With many older residents living on fixed incomes, they are being hit with the rising cost of owning a home as they juggle increased prices for things such as food, gasoline, insurance and medical care.

The larger tax bill "takes a big chunk of retirement income," said Newlin, 63, a former National Marine Fisheries Service employee who has written the governor and Legislature about property taxes and diligently tracks the proposals that will be debated in Tallahassee when a special legislative session convenes June 12.

To be sure, seniors who have lived for years in the same homes -- and are shielded by the Save Our Homes provision capping assessment increases at a maximum of 3 percent a year -- benefit from the lopsided property-tax system.

But many others feel the squeeze, especially snowbirds and those without a homestead exemption and tax cap. Many snowbirds say soaring taxes and the growing gap between homesteaders and nonhomesteaders are dimming Florida's luster as a retirement haven.

Then there are those like the Newlins, who recently moved and face assessments based on the full market value of their homes, and still others who simply must get by on low incomes. The situation also has forced some seniors back into the workforce and made them rethink their concept of life during their golden years.

'Many of these people are from the 'greatest generation,' and that's not how they see themselves in their later years," said Alice Reiter Feld, a Fort Lauderdale elder-law attorney. "Social Security has not kept up with taxes and insurance."

ONGOING STRUGGLE

Herminia Montero, 74, is among those feeling the pinch. She retired nine years ago after working for more than 30 years at various South Florida companies, but three years ago, when her husband died, Montero rejoined the workforce.

She puts in five hours a day on the computer at the AARP Foundation's Senior Community Service Program in Cutler Bay, working and honing job skills for minimum wage.

"It helps me pay my taxes," she said. "I'm very scared. I almost lost my house."

"A lot of people are having to work in their older years to pay their property taxes and insurance," said Marilyn Rams, project director for the AARP program, which trains seniors and helps place them in jobs. 'I hear it all the time when they come in: 'I have to work to pay my taxes and insurance.' They can't make ends meet. And believe me, it's a lot of people from different walks of life."

Montero, who moved to Miami from Cuba in the 1960s, gets the senior exemption of $25,000 on top of the regular $25,000 homestead exemption, plus a $500 widow's exemption on the three-bedroom, two-bathroom house she's lived in for 35 years. But she says she still struggles to pay the $1,529 in property taxes. Her homeowners' insurance is another $1,650.

"I live with a Social Security check. I have to fix the house, paint it and keep it in good condition," Montero said.

When Hurricane Katrina knocked off some roof tiles, the damage fell below the deductible on her insurance, so she had to ante up $600 herself to replace 15 tiles. Before that, it was $600 to fix a roof leak. "If I don't take care of the house, it's coming down," Montero says.

Legislators are considering several options to aid low-income seniors as they work on hammering out a property-tax overhaul aimed at cutting taxes for virtually all homeowners. Plans call for a final brainstorming meeting before the special session begins Tuesday.

THE BIG PICTURE

Elder-law attorney Reiter Feld says the property-tax burden is one piece of a financial puzzle older Floridians are struggling with. "They're very concerned about all the increased costs of living that are out of their hands," she said. They have to pay "taxes, insurance, medication, condo fees, food. And a Social Security raise of $42 doesn't do much."

For many seniors, the big problem is the double-edged tax cap. "Save Our Homes has saved a lot of elderly people," said Kurt Wenner, a senior research analyst at Florida TaxWatch, a nonprofit research institute. "But it's also making it very difficult for the elderly to move. That's the downside."

Ernie Sochin, 71, a retired entrepreneur on the Cutler Bay council, worries "about four or five years from now, when I can't work."

Taxes on the three-bedroom, two-bath Whispering Pines home where he's lived since 1971 are fine -- just $2,300, he says. But he'd like the flexibility to move to a smaller place if maintenance gets tough as he gets older.

"I can't afford to move," he said. "It's tough on senior citizens. We can go to the movies half-price, but that doesn't make up for the taxes and other things. I think if you've lived in the system and paid all your life, there should be some benefit for you."

PLIGHT OF SNOWBIRDS

Of course, those seniors who lack the homestead protection and cap are bearing the brunt of the uneven system. Sidney Margles, 68, a Montreal snowbird who winters at a Century Village East condo in Deerfield Beach, said his taxes soared to $3,046 from $2,039 last year because he doesn't have the cap. Meanwhile, some neighbors pay about $500, he said.

"What many of us did was reduce discretionary spending," said Margles. "It's squeezing us. I can still afford to come down, but last year I went to fewer shows. Not once did we go to the Broward Performing Arts Center, and we didn't eat out as frequently."

"I feel I'm being taken advantage of simply because I'm not there year-round. It leaves a bitter taste," added Max Polster, 71, a retired teacher who divides his time between a condo in Century Village and a home in Montreal. 'At some point, I'd probably say 'Enough of this' and spend my winters elsewhere."

Some seniors are giving up on Florida. When Newlin's former secretary, Anne Overby, retired last year, she and her husband fled Miami for Crossville, Tenn., where the cost of living is lower.

"We moved last July because of the taxes and insurance," said Overby, 66, a South Carolina native who lived in Miami for 33 years. She and her husband bought "a beautiful home with a little creek out back" and woods. The property tax is $673 a year, and homeowners' insurance is only $600.

Copyright © 2007, The Miami Herald, Martha Brannigan. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.