State Rep. Mike Hill’s attorney, Ed Fleming, hand delivered a letter to Escambia County Property Appraiser Chris Jones responding to a certified letter from Jones’ office for documentation to support Hill’s homestead exemption for a residence outside of his Florida House District.
Rep. Mike Hill has a home in the Marcus Pointe subdivision that he and his wife have owned since 1995. The residence is in Florida House District 1, and he has claimed a homestead exemption on the house. However, Hill represents Florida House District 2 and has used a Portofino rental unit as his residence to qualify to represent the district.
After receiving an anonymous complaint that alleged the homestead exemption was fraudulent, Jones sent a certified letter, dated Aug. 16, that requested Hill provide, within 10 days, documents to support the exemption:
- Valid Florida’s Driver’s License or Identification Card
- Current Voter’s Registration
- Current Vehicle Registration
- Dependent’s school registration application
- Monthly utility statements
- Federal income tax returns for year 2014-2016
In his letter, on Monday, Aug. 22, Fleming asserted that his client didn’t have to provide the information since his wife, Greta Hill, and daughter live at the Marcus Pointe residence. He cited a Florida Supreme Court opinion, Judd v. Schooley (Fla. 1963), that “did nothing more than apply the plain language of Fla. Stat 193.031 implementing the Constitutional right of homestead exemption.â€
He wrote, “That statute reads, in relevant part, ‘[i]f only one of the owners of an estate held by the entireties…resides on the property, that owner is allowed’ the homestead exemption.â€
Fleming said that the owner claiming homestead exemption is not required to live at the residence; it is sufficient that the owner’s family resides on the property. He attached to the letter three affidavits from the Hill family that “establish, without legitimate dispute, the residency of Greta and Jessica Hill,†according to the attorney.
The attorney said that if the Property Appraiser did not immediately correct the record and validate the homestead exemption, he would file a Declaratory Judgment Action in Circuit Court by Wednesday morning. Read Fleming_Hill
Inweekly has a call into Fleming to see if the legal action has been taken.
At a Santa Rosa GOP Women’s Club luncheon yesterday, State Rep. Mike Hill said that Escambia County Property Appraiser Chris Jones had ruled that his homestead exemption was valid.
“You are all going to see a press release come out by our property appraiser Chris Jones, who’s going to release it today, stating that there has been no homestead exemption fraud committed by me since I’ve been elected,†Hill told the crowd. “You’re going to see that statement coming out.â€
Property Appraiser Chris Jones told Inweekly that Hill has yet to deliver to Jones’ office any documentation verifying his homestead.
“We sent Mr. Hill a certified letter requesting documents to support the homestead exemption,†said Jones. “We’ve yet to receive any documents. Until we review the documents, we cannot issue any statement whether the exemption is valid or not.â€
The Levy Law Firm of Tallahassee represents the Escambia County Property Appraiser and sent a letter, via email, to Fleming yesterday.
The law firm pointed out that when Hill applied for homestead exemption in 1996, he did not include his wife as joint applicant.
“No information was submitted on behalf of his wife,” wrote attorney Loren Levy. “If it is your intent to assert that the property is entitled to homestead exemption based solely on the permanent residency status of Ms. Hill, then it will be necessary to obtain the same types of residency information as forth in section 196.015, Florida Statutes (2016)…”
Levy also requested additional information of Hill’s daughter: Â “As to the dependency issue, the affidavits submitted merely indicate that their daughter is attending college at West Florida, intends to graduate in May 2017, and is dependent upon her parents for support. The district court in Willens (v. Garcia) observed that mere status as a college student would not appear to constitute legal or natural dependency as contemplated by the homestead exemption.”
Levy wrote, “I would be remiss if I did not point out that my client strongly disagrees with several of the factual representations and unfounded accusations set forth in the letter. At this time, however, I do not believe it would be constructive to respond to those assertions.”  Read Levy_Law
When news of the homestead investigation broke last week, Hill told FloridaPolitics.com, “My residency to serve in the Florida House was certified by the House leadership, and the homestead exemption in Pensacola is in full compliance with the law. So in both cases there is absolutely no violation of any rules or any laws.â€
Florida House Rules state that a member must be legal resident and elector of his or her district at the time of election and shall maintain his or her legal residence within that district for the duration of his or her term of office.
While a member may have multiple residences, he or she shall have only one legal residence. The legal residence of a member at a designated location is demonstrated by a totality of the circumstances.
Thirteen factors are considered to determine a lawmakers legal residency, including:
- Where one claims to reside, as reflected in statements to others or in official documents;
- Where one is registered as a voter;
- Where one claims a legal residence for a homestead exemption
- Where one claims a legal residence for a driver license or other government privilege or benefit;
- Where one’s spouse and minor children maintain a legal residence, work, and attend school;
- Where one receives mail and other correspondence;
The House Rules state each house of the Legislature is the sole judge of the qualifications of its members, including whether a member no longer satisfies his or her qualifications for office. Rep. Hill was required to affirm in writing that he or she is a legal resident and elector of his or her district based on the provisions of the Joint Rule.
The residency factors were added to the rules in the 2014 Legislative Session after the media found several Florida legislators were living outside the districts they were elected to represent, including State Sen. Maria Sachs, Rep. Lori Berman, Rep. Joseph Gibbons, Rep. Jared Moskowitz, Rep. Hazelle Rogers, Rep. Alan Williams, and Rep. Perry E. Thurston, Jr.
In 2014, Sen. Jack Latvala (R-Clearwater) called upon Gov. Rick Scott, Senate President Don Gaetz and House Speaker Will Weatherford to take steps to end the residency games. The new residency rules were passed at the beginning of the 2014 session.
Rep. Mike Hill voted for the rule changes.