Dear Sarasota County Property Owner:

The two questions most commonly asked by Homestead Exemption applicants are: 1) How much money will I save through the Homestead Exemption? and 2) When will the savings that result from the Homestead Exemption become effective?

Although we cannot predict what the 2004 millage rates will be, we believe that the following schedule will assist you by providing an indicator of the gross tax savings which resulted from applying 2003 millage rates to the $25,000 Homestead Exemption for representative locations in Sarasota County:

                  2003

Savings             Millage Rate

UNINCORPORATED Sarasota County                             378.65               15.14580
City of Sarasota                                                                      457.39                18.29570
City of Venice                                                                          460.51                18.42030
Town of Longboat Key (Dist A - Gulf side)                      427.65                17.10610

        (Dist. B - Bay side)                     414.66                16.58640

City of North Port                                                                   485.40                19.41580

The tax savings resulting from your Homestead Exemption will first be realized with the mailing of the tax statement by the Tax Collector's Office in November of the year for which you were granted, the Homestead Exemption. That is, if you applied for a Homestead Exemption for the 2004 Assessment Roll, the tax savings will be evident on your 2004 tax statement. In August of 2004, you will receive a Notice of Proposed Property Taxes providing you with the first estimate of your 2004 ad valorem taxes.

Unfortunately, we are not able to assist you in making arrangements with your mortgage company to reduce your escrow or your monthly payments. We are also unable to provide notice of your property valuation until August of 2004; however, we can provide you with suggestions to estimate your taxes for the coming year. If you recently purchased the property, you can subtract the $25,000 exemption and closing costs from the purchase price and apply the appropriate millage rate listed above to the result. For example:

Your Purchase Price                                                         $xxx,xxx
Minus The Closing Costs                                                -$xx,xxx
Minus The Exemption                                                      -$25,000
Equals the Estimated Taxable Value                              $xx,xxx
Multiplied by the Millage (as a decimal)                          xx.xxxxx
Equals the Estimated Tax                                                 $xxx.xx

Serving Sarasota County with offices in Sarasota and Venice

2001 Adams Lane, Sarasota, FL 34237 • 4000 S. Tamiami Trail, Venice, FL 34293 (941) 861-8200 • Fax (941) 861-8260 • www.sarasotapropertv.net

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Do not use last year's taxes as a guide if the property was receiving the homestead exemption through the prior owner. The assessment limitation the property may have been receiving under the "Save Our Homes" constitutional amendment will be removed. This may cause a significant difference in the amount of tax for the following year. Remember, this is intended to assist you in estimating your taxes. Your actual taxes may be different depending upon your property's valuation and the final millage rates adopted by the taxing districts. Please also note that in addition to the ad valorem taxes referenced in this letter, your property may also be subject to non-ad valorem assessments for fire protection, solid waste collection, stormwater utilities and other levies.

When you filed your application, you should have received a copy of your Original Application for Ad Valorem Tax (Homestead) Exemption. This copy will serve as evidence of your application. You may wish to use this letter along with a copy of the application when notifying your mortgage lender.

Please remember that we are here to serve you, let us know if we can be of any further assistance.

Very truly yours,

JIM TODORA, MAI, CAE Sarasota County Property Appraiser