Fire Assessment: Time running out to file for adjoining lot exemption | News, Sports, Jobs

If you own vacant lots adjoining your homesteaded home within the Lehigh Acres Fire Control and Rescue District and believe you qualify for the adjoining-lot exemption, the time to file — or refile — for that tax break is now.

Property owners must complete a request for adjoining lot exemption form annually and must submit it to the district between Jan. 1 and Feb. 1 for the upcoming fiscal year to confirm that the parcel still qualifies for the exemption.

If you returned the form the district mailed you in 2020, you should have received the adjoining lot exemption on this year’s tax bill, officials said.

The district has streamlined the process by adding the option to complete a fillable form on its website, https://www.lehighfd.com.

More over 1,700 homeowners whose properties includes multiple building parcels were first mailed the exemption forms in October of 2020 after LAFCRD Board of Commissioners approved the exemption. Exemptions of this type are available at the discretion of the district board because they are “special assessment” and not ad valorem, or property, taxes.

Voters within the district approved the assessment in lieu of property taxes on Aug. 18, 2020. Under this “simplified fire methodology,” property owners within the district pay an annual assessment not exceeding $162 per parcel plus $.93 per $1,000 of the value of improvements.

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