When Florida Governor Rick Scott picked Miami-Dade property appraiser Carlos Lopez-Cantera to be his lieutenant governor last year following Jennifer Carroll’s abrupt resignation, Pedro J. Garcia mulled running for the vacant position again during a special election.
At the time, he was enjoying retirement with his wife, Amalia, as they sailed to Europe on a cruise ship and returned home to find themselves going shopping together.
“I was sitting at home and my wife said she was going shopping. I asked can I go and it was the biggest mistake I made,” Garcia quipped, as he was the guest speaker for the Miami Lakes Chamber of Commerce’s March membership luncheon at Don Shula’s Hotel. “We went to Dadeland Mall and she visited every store there.”
But his retirement was short-lived.
Garcia said he couldn’t sit around the house not being involved in real estate in some capacity.
So he decided to run for his old position as the county's property appraiser but was concerned his wife would oppose the idea.
The couple had breakfast one morning when he told her the news.
“I told her I can’t retire, I got to go back to work,” Garcia told the Chamber members and their guests. I never thought she would be so happy for me. I retired for only 19 days.”
Garcia eventually won last year’s election.
“It’s really good to be back. But we have a lot of work to do to keep the property values increasing again in Miami-Dade.”
During his first stint as property appraiser from 2008 to 2012, Garcia said he often had to give the mayor and county commissioners some bad news about Miami-Dade’s estimates of taxable values.
This year, he said it’s looking a little brighter when he releases the preliminary countywide figures in June.
The estimated taxable value for 2014 was $209,937,000,000, a 6.5 percent increase from 2013.
“This year I should have some good news,” he said.
Garcia said from, 2009-2012, the county experienced an estimated $6.6 billion decrease in property values, stemming from a rash of foreclosures and homestead exemption fraud among other issues that hindered real estate for residential properties.
"All market value in the county is low despite what the mayor and county commissioners say," said Garcia. "But we are working hard to establish rising market value."
Garcia said his property appraisal staff of about 300 employees and eight police officers are cracking down on homestead exemption fraud and other real estate scandals.
In one case, Garcia said a homeowner never paid property taxes or a mortgage for years and rented out the house until county officials discovered the scam.
The county placed a lien on the property and hit the homeowner with perhaps the largest fine and penalty levied against anyone for housing and homestead exemption fraud. Garcia said the fines and penalty fees mounted to over $500,000.
Garcia urged potential homeowners to consult with an attorney and visit his office to make sure the property is in good standing and know the real property value appraisal.
“Some people may say the value of the property is wrong, so sit down with us in the office to prove who is right,” Garcia said.
Garcia said the biggest real estate boom is occurring in the city of Miami.
He said 10,000 condo units and shopping centers will be built in the Downtown and Brickell area and most of the condominiums have already been sold.
“That’s about $10 million in taxes,” he said.