Florida residency??? - Montana Owners Club

richfaa · 10-28-2008, 03:27 AM

We are doing our homework on the pro's and cons of Florida residency..We are now 6 months North(Ohio) 6 months Florida. We want to keep our Ohio residence..Perhaps not the one we have now

Florida does not have a State Income tax..Pro
If We gave up our Ohio Drivers License we could not drive the school bus in Ohio and would lose that income which is more than the no state income tax........con

I could drive a school bus in Florida or drive for Disney but I do not want to do that..but I could.....sort of pro

would have to give up our Homestead exemption in Ohio thus a increase in property tax con

Florida also has a homestead tax Pro..does that apply to a camper on a permanet site???License and registration on the car.truck and camper is a wash.

Do not know what the Florida property tax is but would not have as expensive of a home in Florida Unknown

There does not seem to be much if any of a advantage..thus far????

bigmurf · 10-28-2008, 06:21 AM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by richfaa

We are doing our homework on the pro's and cons of Florida residency..We are now 6 months North(Ohio) 6 months Florida. We want to keep our Ohio residence..Perhaps not the one we have now

Florida does not have a State Income tax..Pro
If We gave up our Ohio Drivers License we could not drive the school bus in Ohio and would lose that income which is more than the no state income tax........con

I could drive a school bus in Florida or drive for Disney but I do not want to do that..but I could.....sort of pro

would have to give up our Homestead exemption in Ohio thus a increase in property tax con

Florida also has a homestead tax Pro..does that apply to a camper on a permanet site???License and registration on the car.truck and camper is a wash.

Do not know what the Florida property tax is but would not have as expensive of a home in Florida Unknown

There does not seem to be much if any of a advantage..thus far????

Too much free time to think here. Get a JOB, talk to the bird, wash the rig. Tomorrows list later. ggg

stiles watson · 10-28-2008, 06:29 AM

Be careful of the hanging chad.

cmp-shooter · 10-28-2008, 06:53 AM

RICHFAA.
Why can't you drive school bus in florida with Ohio licence, I can drive my hazmat tanker in any state. I say just keep Ohio licence.

richfaa · 10-28-2008, 07:58 AM

cmp-shooter I understand what you are saying. We can drive a commerical vehicle in any State with a CDL regardless of the state of residence of the CDL holder. Most folks do not understand that the State license are actually two different things.. One issued by the State and The CDL a Federal requirment good in every State. I can also drive a charter bus, for hire, in any state with my Ohio License and the CDL.. However If I want to drive say a bus for Disney or for the City of Orlando or a school bus in any city I must have a State drivers license. Same in Ohio . To drive a school bus in Ohio I must have a Ohio drivers License/// Such are the rules..

CasaDelSol · 10-28-2008, 10:45 AM

Can you have 2 drivers licenses...one in Ohio and one in Florida?

ChuckD · 10-28-2008, 11:52 AM

I believe Florida has a non-residence licence, But would that be valid for driving a bus ? I am not sure Chuck

richfaa · 10-28-2008, 12:48 PM

You can only have two drivers licenses till they catch you. Thanks for the tip on a non0resident Florida license..I found this....

NOTE: This non resident driver license is for use only in the State of Florida. When you travel outside of Florida, you will be operating on your Out of State License. You will not be considered a resident of Florida, and may not be eligible for some rights and privileges of Florida Residents.

Waynem · 10-28-2008, 02:39 PM

Every six months change to a state license for the state you are in.
Now that might be expensive.

richfaa · 10-28-2008, 03:44 PM

The non resident Florida license is a strange thing.May be because there are so many non residents here. The license is only good in Florida.You still have your Home state license. I will be calling the county tax collector for more information...Another strange thing..who would have thunk that the county tax collector would have anything to do with issuing drivers licenses..another strange thing in Florida.....besides myself..

mail2us · 10-28-2008, 03:54 PM

Rich,
- Driving school bus in Ohio probably pays more but weather could be the decider. Snow on Florida roads is cleared immediately!
- I believe mobile homes pay a once a year "registration" fee and are not the same as a home eligible for homestead exemption where real estate taxes are paid yearly. Owning the property or lot on which the mobile home is situated maybe different than renting a lot. We have to file each year for homestead exemption which is $50000, just raised from $25000. Real Estate taxes are based on county by county millage menu.
- State sales tax is 6% with some counties adding up to 1% for locally approved referendums
- Believe you have to surrender Ohio driver license to be a "eligible" Florida resident for homestead, etc.
- No "hanging chads" in Osceola or Orange County Fl, just Palm Beach County ...just kiddin' Palm Beach residents!!
- Low heating bills, high A/C bills
- Ohio has only the OSU Buckeyes! just kiddin' Rich Go Gators!

Here a site you can keep for possibly going to one of it's branches and ask them the questions that can correctly be answered but they too will say...Go Gators!! Good Luck. Dennis

http://www.osceolataxcollector.com/index.html

adelmoll · 10-29-2008, 02:09 AM

Rich, we got our Florida resident license last year. It cost us $25.00 each and is good forever as long we have a current South Dakota license. They do not put an expiration date on this license. On the back of the license in fine print is "for Florida use only". We have our lot address on it and can use it for Florida Resident Discounts as well as free fishing for over 65. The main reason we got it was for identification for the banks etc. but find them very useful.

I have friends from Ohio that changed to Florida last year and it turned out to be pretty much a wash. They saved about $300 on being able to homestead their lot down here but the taxes on their home in Vermilion increased about the same. They also said that the insurances costs on their 5th wheel and truck were about the same.

We have kicked it around ourselves to change from our South Dakota residency to Fl. for the homestead on our lot but for us, the insurances would be much higher than what we pay in SD. We are still pondering that one though.

Helen

richfaa · 10-29-2008, 02:44 AM

Great information folks..I know a lot more than I did and have not yet talked to anyone in Florida Government. Dennis I will be talking to the Osceola tax Collector today on the license information and Helen thanks for the valuable information. We also figure it would be about a wash if we changed over but all the date is not yet in. The thing with the Florida drivers license is i CAN drive a bus for Disney if I hold a Florida Drivers License and still hold my Ohio License,,The best of both worlds. Driving that school us in Ohio from July to Oct pays for our Florida winter so we did not want to lose that income.

Here is the real story on the "Florida only" drivers license. When something does not sound right you need to keep asking questions. We had to go to three sources before we got the correct information.

The Florida only drivers license program will phase out 1 jan 2010. You can still get one till then.

They do have a expiration date and the license will be good till the expiration date.

If you have a CDL license, that is a FEDERAL CDL license. Federal law says you can not have two drivers licenses .... a State license and a CDL license although they may be on one card they are TWO licenses.
so you can NOT get the Florida only license IF you have a CDL license..

adelmoll · 10-29-2008, 12:15 PM

Oops, you're right Rich. I just looked at mine and it says it is good until 2014 which is 6 yrs from when I got it. But we were told that it is only good that long if I renew my S. Dakota one that expires in 2010. I think the reason for that is because this one is linked to the info on our S. Dakota one. They told us last year that they were thinking of phasing it out but didn't know when. We do not have a CDL so I know nothing about that end of it. We visited friends in Key West last year that had the Florida only and several different tourist things that they took us to, they got in free with our paid admission. The one that comes to mind first was the tram tour around the city. He and his wife saved the cost of their license on that ride alone. In that case, they had to have a Key West address on the license for the discount. Of course if we were changing our residency to Florida, we would just go with the normal changing of licenses but that could cause a bigger problem for me because we would have to get new license plates and Florida has over 100 different designs to chose from. It would take me a month to decide which one I'd want.

Helen

Delaine and Lindy · 10-29-2008, 12:27 PM

Unless the Federal law has changed on the Class A (CDL) and you hold a Commerical Drivers Lic, it is illegal to have another drivers Lic. If you go in and apply for another Lic, it will show you have a Commerical Lic. One of the reasons for the Class A (CDL) was to stop Truck Drivers from holding more than one Drives Lic, at one time I had Tennessee, Kentucky and Arizona Lic. When I had to get my CDL I had to turn in my other Lic. The Law may have changed, and School bus Lic is different, I had School bus Lic indorsement and had to have it converted to meet Tennessee Laws. GBY...

richfaa · 10-29-2008, 01:38 PM

The school bus is a endorsement on the CDL like Tanker, Hazment, etc. I was in the last step of getting the Florida Only license when they entered my information and found out it was also a CDL license. MY CDl Reads S-School Bus P- Passenger N-Tank Vehicle H- Hazardous Mtl. The state of Ohio also requires a test every 6 years to maintain your certification to drive a school bus. The major difference is the Pre trip for a schools bus. I make to much money driving in Ohio to give it up.

Helen we did get the Florida ID card which will get you the same discounts and establishes that you have a Florida residence. At least you can keep yours till the expiration date..and you do have to have a valid out of state license to maintain you Florida only license..

The things you can learn if you ask enough questions..amazing.

awaywego · 10-29-2008, 02:46 PM

I have a Florida only drivers license and I had the Monty licensed in Florida to save on property taxes ($1300) first year Fla 0, but the insurance on the monty got so high that I moved it back to Va. this year and pay less for tax and insurance than insurance in Florida. Be sure to check out insurance rates for home and rv. After transfer fee you pay $20 per year for tags.
Also if you live in the city you pay city tax on RE and county tax also.

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