WSVN — Most people who own homes have to pay property taxes, unless you meet certain criteria to get a break. So how do you get that break? One couple called Help Me Howard with Patrick Fraser to find out.
Shirley and Wilmer started dating in high school in 1976. In 1986, they bought the home they now live in. And yet there are two days they will never forget: the dates that left them disabled.
Shirley Milton: "March 2010, March 11, 2010, I had a stroke."
Wilmer was a truck driver for Home Depot when he fell off the truck in 1993.
Wilmer Milton: "I didn’t want them to see I fell. I dusted myself off and kept working. And then, three months later, it went haywire."
A doctor wrote that Wilmer had a progressive neurological disease, and that he is totally disabled.
Wilmer Milton: "Well, it’s hard to breathe. It’s hard to eat at times, and it pulls and it gives me headaches and goes down my back."
Shirley needs a wheelchair to get around. Wilmer has difficulty walking, and the nerve damage causes his face to twitch, his body to contort, and he says the pain can be unbearable.
Wilmer Milton: "It’s getting worse, it’s getting worse. I am afraid of a stroke ’cause it’s messing with my brain, and it hurts."
But as we met with them, they explained their physical problems but didn’t complain, telling me that with their small disability checks they manage to get by.
Then in December, Wilmer was watching Help Me Howard when a story about Elizabeth Rogers came on, and she mentioned she doesn’t have to pay property taxes because she is permanently disabled.
Wilmer Milton: "When I heard you, I said, ‘Wow, I wonder if I qualify.’"
Their property taxes are $1,123 a year. Saving nearly $100 a month on taxes would be a big help, they told me.
Shirley Milton: "A lot, a very lot."
Wilmer Milton: "That would be beautiful."
They are both disabled and both low income, so Howard, legally do they qualify for a break on their property taxes?
Howard Finkelstein: "There are many people who qualify for a partial property tax break, like someone who is disabled, a widow or widower and people in other categories, but to avoid having to pay any property taxes, you must be a quadriplegic or be blind, or totally and permanently disabled, requiring the use of a wheelchair and make less than $27,000 and some change a year."
We contacted the Broward Property Appraiser’s Office. They were nice enough to go to the Miltons’ home. Wilmer immediately got a discount because of his disability, and Shirley needs to get two doctors to confirm she is wheelchair-bound to get the full exemption on their property taxes.
Because of their disabilities, they make less than the $27,765 that the state requires to be eligible for a tax break. According to the law, if either of the spouses qualifies, the property taxes are eliminated.
Wilmer Milton: "If it do, thank God. If it don’t, thank God because you only know if you try."
If the doctors sign the letters for Shirley, the Miltons will get their property taxes wiped out, but there is something Wilmer would love even more: to be able to work again. But he can’t because of his condition.
Wilmer Milton: "If they cut me, I would bleed orange, you know, ’cause I love Home Depot."
Patrick Fraser: "Many people who work don’t want to work. Wilmer would give anything to work, but he can’t. There are about 10 different exemptions available to homeowners. Go to your county’s property appraiser website to see if you qualify. Can’t hurt to look."
Got a problem that is taxing you? Ready to exempt yourself from it? Contact us. Hopefully after we appraise things, it will enable you to move on. With this Help Me Howard, I’m Patrick Fraser, 7News.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Broward Property Appraiser
http://www.bcpa.net/homestead.asp
Miami-Dade Property Appraiser
http://www.miamidade.gov/pa/exemptions_amendment11.asp
Monroe Property Appraiser
http://www.mcpafl.org/exemptions.aspx
Palm Beach Property Appraiser
http://www.co.palm-beach.fl.us/papa/fileexemption.htm
CONTACT HELP ME HOWARD:
E-mail: helpmeHoward@wsvn.com
Reporter: Patrick Fraser at pfraser@wsvn.com
Miami-Dade: 305-953-WSVN
Broward: 954-761-WSVN
On Twitter: @helpmehoward7