Orange County Property Appraiser office brings in extra $1B in taxable value since 2013
ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. (FOX 35 ORLANDO) - Orange County Property Appraiser Rick Singh says his office brought in an extra billion dollars in taxable value since 2013.
“This is indeed a big deal,” Singh said.
Singh says they did it mostly by investigating property tax exemptions - the reasons people claim for paying lower property taxes - to see if they're legit.
He says each year they find millions of dollars worth of fraud.
“Every year since 2013, we've returned at least $138 million in value back to the tax roll,” he said.
Singh said this fraud ends up costing everyone in the long-run.
“For context, if a person or organization is not paying their fair share, the burden could potentially shift to taxpayers who are paying their fair share.”
That leads to higher costs for schools, parks, infrastructure and affordable housing. Singh said the extra money will go a long way.
“This yields greater revenue for public schools, our thirteen municipalities,” Singh said, “and more resources for Orange County, in general.”