In Hillsborough County officials with the Property Appraiser’s Office have found a new way to accrue owed tax dollars. The objective is to locate homeowners who should be paying more taxes then they are. The county uses a company, Pictometry, to flyover and take high-definition aerial photographs of all properties. These photographs then allow the county to analyze each property and determine if unpermitted exterior home improvements have been completed since the previous appraisal.
This new method as been implemented over the last 10 months, costing the county roughly $272,000 a year. To date, 10,000 properties have been found as offenders of not obtaining a permit. Discovering such offenses has yielded $184,000 in tax dollars. Currently, it costs the county more money to perform the project than it brings in. However, it’s estimated over the next decade, if the project is expanded, to add an additional $7 million dollars to tax dollars for the county. Another benefit of the aerial shot is they help diminish inspection costs.
As an investor, it’s very likely you are doing exterior upgrades to your properties. As technology advances, the Government is only going to find more ways to ensure all homeowners are being fair and paying appropriate taxes, fees, and costs due to all agencies, regarding home improvements and tax values. It’s best to complete all improvements with a necessary permit and save yourself the hassle of fines or the sale of the house being held up for unpermitted home exterior improvements.
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