Sinkholes are causing a big headache for Hernando County homeowners and officials.
A report Hernando County’s property appraiser put together for county commissioners is full of some sobering information about sinkholes.
County leaders like it when sinkhole damage to a home is fixed, but according to the property appraiser, many damaged homes are not getting fixed. That’s costing the county a lot of tax money because the values of the houses are cut in half.
Commissioner Dave Russell says it comes out to about $1 million of tax revenue lost a year.
“Everything is on the table at this time," Russell said. "We can’t just throw our hands up, roll over and accept what’s happening. We need action.”
A few ideas are being tossed around like contacting FEMA to see if some relief is available, checking in with other counties to see how they’re dealing with the problem and sending letters to homeowners.
County leaders say they are going to keep things legal but they need to do something to fix the problem.
According to Hernando’s property appraiser there are 6,106 homes in the county with confirmed sinkhole activity. Only 2,726 have been fixed.