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Re: Maintenance Fees Out-Of-Sight (by Melanie B.):

greggibson wrote:

My cost have gone up also, but it is not just insurance costs. Even though my resort has a policy they also have a one millioon dollar deductable on the policy that must be paid for by owners before the policy kicks in. What is more costly is the absurd rate that Florida taxes are going up. Taxes are based on proerty value and property values have spiked. This is a landfall for the state. I don't have any idea what FL is going to do with all this money, but it has to stop somewhere

Pretty much all properties in FL that have insurance have HUGE hurricane deductibles. The standard or norm for personal insurance is 2%. However, many people can't afford the high rates so they opt to carry an even higher deductible (5%) if their mortgage holder let's them. Commercial properties have even larger deductibles than homeowers. So, a one million dollar deductible isn't that unreal.

In case of a hurricane, the owner's must cover that deductible. So either the resort does a special assessment or many places are opting to collect extra $ to be prepared by keeping the money in a hurricane reserve fund.

Regarding the taxes in FL, you are right on - they have gone sky high. You asked, "What have they done with the $?". They spent it all. They claim it is all for the increased services they provide, but I don't see any. Homeowner's and business owner's are ready to revolt here. The governer wants to reduce taxes because of all the complaints that people can't afford to live here and businesses can't afford to stay in business. Cities and towns are complaining that they have to cut services if they are forced to cut tax rates.