Constitutional Amendment 1: Property tax relief for floodproofing improvements
If you own a home, your property taxes are based on the assessed value of your home. The amendment would make it possible for lawmakers to add flood resistance improvements to a list of upgrades that won't add to your home's assessed value for tax purposes. (WPEC)
BOCA RATON, Fla. (CBS12) — Constitutional Amendment 1 is one of three constitutional amendments on the ballot. It aims to help taxpayers take action to protect their homes.
If you own a home, your property taxes are based on the assessed value of your home. The amendment would make it possible for lawmakers to add flood resistance improvements to a list of upgrades that won't add to your home's assessed value for tax purposes.
Constitutional Amendment 1 states:
Proposing an amendment to the State Constitution, effective January 1, 2023, to authorize the Legislature, by general law, to prohibit the consideration of any change or improvement made to real property used for residential purposes to improve the property's resistance to flood damage in determining the assessed value of such property for ad valorem taxation purposes.
Currently, home improvements to prevent wind damage and the installation of solar or renewable energy sources are exempt from property tax assessment, Constitutional Amendment 1 would add flood resistance to the list.
Real Estate Expert Bonnie Heatzig says legislation like this is important.
“It's important for all homeowners in the state of Florida largely because if you do make those kinds of improvements, there should be fewer claims made to the state insurance bond," said Heatzig.
According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), 4.85 million home/property owners made FEMA flood damage claims from 2000-2020. As of Friday FEMA announced federal support for Hurricane Ian totaled $1.93 billion. FEMA also provided $719 million to households and $322 million to the state for emergency response, while the U.S. Small Business Administration has provided $562 million in disaster loans and the National Flood Insurance Program has paid $332 million in claims.
Things that might be covered if the amendment passes are improving drainage, adding gutters, putting your home on stilts, water-resistant drywall, covering cracks in your foundation and exterior walls, and waterproofing paints.
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Heatzig says if you don't, you're at risk to lose a lot more than your money.
"But so many things are very personal. And you know they're hard to replace. So you want to protect your belongings, protect your home against flooding any way you can," said Heatzig.
She says it not only will help you save money, but your home will be worth more.
"Right and so when you make these kinds of improvements, it absolutely improves the value of your home. So the homeowner reaps the benefit of that," said Heatzig.
The details would be worked out by the legislature next session. From an environmental standpoint, the timing seems about right.
Boca Raton Oceanographer and author of 'Moving to Higher Ground', John Englander says we're getting more extreme weather storms, rain, droughts, and heat waves.
These conditions are getting worse, especially for low-lying areas, like much of Florida. Flooding is expected to grow across the state, not just along the coast.
“They need to start thinking about flooding as storms of heavy rainfall events, extreme high tides, and sea level rise as well as coastal erosion. So we need to start to get a little educated and start thinking about the different kinds," said Englander.
Englander says it used to be that king tides would happen with storms and now, high tides (like king tides) are getting higher even when there's a blue sky and beautiful weather.
"That's because sea levels are rising, but even though we talk about sea level rise, it's a little confusing because you can't see sea level rise. It's only rising about a quarter of an inch a year. And I like to say it's kind of like a drip filling the bucket, but the drip gets faster and faster. But we see sea level rise at peak high tide," said Englander.
Coastal erosion, rising sea levels, severe storms, and extreme tides are all forms of flooding.
"But they're really five or six different forms of flooding and we need to think of them separately. Because the heights are different. The timing is different and sea level rise kind of creeps up on us, but it won't recede for 1000 years. So it's kind of slow but permanent flooding raising all the other water heights," said Englander.
Climate Scientist, Daniel Gilford says sea level rise is a response to human-caused climate change.
"As we increase greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, those gases build up in a trap sheet, kind of like a blanket pulling itself around the Earth. That trapped heat has to go somewhere. Sometimes it goes into the ice sheets and starts to melt them and sometimes it goes down in the ocean and then starts to warm the ocean up. As the ocean warms, it allows the ocean to expand," said Gilford.
Gilford says sea level rise has accelerated in the last couple of decades to the point now where we're expecting to see pretty consistent sea level rise through at least the middle part of this century. And depending upon what we do, going forward quite a bit more sea level rise after that is possible.
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"30 years from now, we'll actually be experiencing the sea level rise associated with the decisions that we're making today. And a lot of the decisions we made over the past decade, those decisions have been made and that has a certain amount of heat associated with it and a certain amount of sea level rise," said Gilford.
Gilford says the state of Florida is drastically affected by coastal changes.
"We rely heavily on the coasts for our economics and tourism in this state. And of course, as the waters rise up people's homes, businesses, recreational centers, their places of worship, these types of things that are along the coastlines, will become threatened as the sea level rises. They'll be threatened by just the water coming up and leading to daily nuisance flooding as the high tide sweeps over them, and more drastic effects during hurricanes or storms. That sea level rise kind of compounds the existing storm problem," said Gilford.
Gilford says each person plays a part in making their community more resilient.
"I think they have to consider sea level rise from the get-go. When they're having their county commissioner meetings, when they're having their city planning discussions, sea level rise needs to be a part of the portfolio of risks that these communities are facing, because they will have to make decisions about it going forward over the next 10,15, 30 years," said Gilford.
You can vote on Constitutional Amendment 1 on November 8. The polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on election day.
