The Elizabeth Robinson home is located at 1020 East Pearl Street in Monticello. This Sears Catalogue home was built in the 1920's as a duplex. Alot of renovations have been done since... two major. It is now a single family home now, and will be on the Tour of Homes.

Tickets for the tour may be purchased at the Wirick-Simmons House, $25 for adults and $20 for group sales of five or more. The garden party will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. at the cost of $10.

The tour will include the home of Elizabeth Robinson, 1020 East Pearl Street, Nancy and Bob Wideman-Crew, 1100 East Pearl, Dana and Richard Anderson, 1140 East Pearl Street, Valerie and Bob Dam, 1115 East Pearl Street, J.M. Henry House (Jerry Fredrickson,) 525 High Street, Dilworth-Barnhill House (Kim Barnhill, 345 East Washington Street, Simpkins-Bailey House (Bill Kirkpatrick,) 340 East Washington Street, Girardeau House (Terri and Tom Dunn,) 950 East Washington Street, Janegale and Hines Boyd, 735 West Washington Street, and the Das Kliene Dorf "The Little Village" (Friedel and Dick Bailar,) 1023 South Main Avenue.

The Bed & Breakfasts will include the Avera-Clarke House (Gretchen and Troy Avera,) 580 West Washington Street, John Denham House (Pat and Greg Inmon,) 555 West Palmer Mill Road, and The Cottage (Martha and JM Cravanzola,) 295 West Palmer Mill Road.

Public buildings on the tour will include Christ Episcopal Church, 425 North Cherry Street, Monticello Opera House, 185 West Washington Street, Palmer House Antiques, 325 South Jefferson Street, Jefferson Arts Center, 575 West Washington Street, and the Wirick-Simmons House (Jefferson County Historical Association,) 230 North Jefferson Street,

The Jefferson County Historical Association sponsors the Monticello 2010 Tour of Homes. For more information call 850-997-5007 or go to www.visit jeffersoncountyflorida.com

Altrusa Club of Monticello has been preparing for its annual Junk and Treasure Sale 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, March 6 inside the Monticello Opera House.

Club members have already begun packing up unused items from their own homes and are asking for additional donations from the community.

Some of the best selling items are small household appliances, furniture, children's items, and craft items.

The sales floor will occupy the entire downstairs reception area of the Opera House, with merchandise separated into categories for shopping convenience.

Departments will include kitchen and small appliances, tool shop, outdoors equipment, furniture, bed and bath, a children/baby department with kids clothing and baby needs, and books and crafts.

Donations may be dropped off at the Opera House at any time during business hours, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Proceeds from this fundraiser will benefit local programs and organizations including the Jefferson Senior Citizen Center, Public Library, scholarships for local high school seniors, and the Opera House.

There will be plenty of cashiers on hand to ensure efficient check out. For more information about this sale contact Altrusa President Diane Simpson at 850-508-4971.

The National Association of Home Builders has a website that explains in simple terms the $8,000 first-time homebuyer tax credit and the $6,500 repeat homebuyer tax credit. Located at www.federalhousingtaxcredit.com, the site provides details of the program that are easy to understand, including frequently asked questions.

"The Worker, Homeownership, and Business Assistance Act of 2009 has extended the tax credit of up to $8,000 for qualified first-time homebuyers purchasing a principal residence. The tax credit now applies to sales occurring on or after January 1, 2009 and on or before April 30, 2010. However, in cases where a binding sales contract is signed by April 30, 2010, a home purchase completed by June 30, 2010 will qualify.

"For sales occurring after November 6, 2009, the Act establishes income limits of $125,000 for single taxpayers and $225,000 for married couples filing joint returns.

"The income limits for sales occurring on or after January 1, 2009 and on or before November 6, 2009, are $75,000 for single taxpayers and $150,000 for married taxpayers filing joint returns," the site goes on to explain.

$8,000 First-time Home Buyer Tax Credit at a Glance

The $8,000 tax credit is for first-time homebuyers only. For the tax credit program, the IRS defines a first-time homebuyer as someone who has not owned a principal residence during the three-year period prior to the purchase.

The tax credit does not have to be repaid unless the home is sold or ceases to be used as the buyer's principal residence within three years after the initial purchase.

The tax credit is equal to 10 percent of the home's purchase price up to a maximum of $8,000.

The tax credit applies only to homes priced at $800,000 or less.

The tax credit now applies to sales occurring on or after January 1, 2009 and on or before April 30, 2010. However, in cases where a binding sales contract is signed by April 30, 2010, a home purchase completed by June 30, 2010 will qualify.

For homes purchased on or after January 1, 2009 and on or before November 6, 2009, the income limits are $75,000 for single taxpayers and $150,000 for married couples filing jointly.

For homes purchased after November 6, 2009 and on or before April 30, 2010, single taxpayers with incomes up to $125,000 and married couples with incomes up to $225,000 qualify for the full tax credit.

The $6,500 Move-Up / Repeat Home Buyer Tax Credit at a Glance

To be eligible to claim the tax credit, buyers must have owned and lived in their previous home for five consecutive years out of the last eight years.

The tax credit does not have to be repaid unless the home is sold or ceases to be used as the buyer's principal residence within three years after the initial purchase.

The tax credit is equal to 10 percent of the home's purchase price up to a maximum of $6,500.

The tax credit applies only to homes priced at $800,000 or less.

The credit is available for homes purchased after November 6, 2009 and on or before April 30, 2010. However, in cases where a binding sales contract is signed by April 30, 2010, the home purchase qualifies provided it is completed by June 30, 2010.

Single taxpayers with incomes up to $125,000 and married couples with incomes up to $225,000 qualify for the full tax credit.

Some additional frequently asked questions include:

What types of homes will qualify for the tax credit?

Any home that will be used as a principal residence will qualify for the credit, provided the home is purchased for a price less than or equal to $800,000. This includes single-family detached homes, attached homes like townhouses and condominiums, manufactured homes (also known as mobile homes) and houseboats.

Instead of buying a new home from a homebuilder, I hired a contractor to construct a home on a lot that I already own. Do I still qualify for the tax credit?

Yes. For the purposes of the home buyer tax credit, a principal residence that is constructed by the home owner is treated by the tax code as having been "purchased" on the date the owner first occupies the house. In this situation, the date of first occupancy must be on or after January 1, 2009 and on or before April 30, 2010 (or by June 30, 2010, provided a binding sales contract was in force by April, 30, 2010). In contrast, for newly constructed homes bought from a homebuilder, eligibility for the tax credit is determined by the settlement date. To provide proof of purchase, homebuyers must attach a copy of the HUD-1 Form or certificate of occupancy to IRS Form 5405.

Is a tax credit the same as a tax deduction?

No. A tax credit is a dollar-for-dollar reduction in what the taxpayer owes. That means that a taxpayer who owes $8,000 in income taxes and who receives an $8,000 tax credit would owe nothing to the IRS. A tax deduction is subtracted from the amount of income that is taxed. Using the same example, assume the taxpayer is in the 15 percent tax bracket and owes $8,000 in income taxes. If the taxpayer receives an $8,000 deduction, the taxpayer's tax liability would be reduced by $1,200 (15 percent of $8,000), or lowered from $8,000 to $6,800.

Of course, as with all purchases of this size, buyers are urged to use trusted sources and not to get caught by ruthless salespersons misrepresenting themselves. When it comes to buying a home, always look before leaping.

It used to be that the agricultural classification form had to be signed and submitted to the Property Appraiser's office by March 1 of every year in order to qualify for the greenbelt or agriculture exemption.

No more. The exemption is now automatic, requiring no action on the part of the property owner, unless a change has occurred to alter the status quo. That's the easier part.

The more complicated part is that landowners can no longer simply claim the agricultural exemption — if they ever really could — without some kind of documentation showing that the land is indeed being used for bona-fide agricultural purposes. Bona-fide agricultural purposes, as described by statute and in a brochure available in the office of Property Appraiser Angela Gray, "means good faith commercial agricultural use of land."

Factors to be considered in determining whether the agricultural use is bona-fide, per the statute, include: the length of time that the land has been used agriculturally; whether the agriculture use has been continuous; the purchase price paid for the land; and the size as it relate to the specific agricultural use, not the size of the acreage.

A single cow on an acre of land, for example, is not typically a bona-fide commercial operation, whereas 50 cows on 100 acres could be, according to the statute. In fact, a great many variables go into determining what lands actually qualify for agricultural classifications, Gray will tell you. Her point is that all the variables must be considered for a determination of the greenbelt exemption, not any one singly.

"You can't deny a classification solely based on acreage," Gray says. "You have to look at all the criteria. We try to qualify what is actually happening on the land and whether a good-faith commercial use of the land is taking place. We encourage property owners to put together a land management plan. This protects both the property owner and us when the Florida Department of Revenue (FDOR) audits our files, which the state does every other year."

One of two myths that Gray wants to eliminate is the idea that the agricultural classification can be grandfathered; it actually it has to be renewed every year, based on the use of the land, she says. The second misconception is that a property owner gets the exemption for an entire piece of land; technically, the agricultural exemption applies only to that portion of land that is actually being used for legitimate agricultural purposes, Gray says.

As for the recently implemented automatic renewal of the exemption, Gray says it now allows her staff to spend more time in the field visiting and assessing individual parcels as part of the required five-year reviews. Not that her staff will get to all properties within a year, but over the course of the five-year period, her office staff will be able to assess all properties in the county, she says.

Nor will her office automatically pull the agricultural exemption of a property if a discrepancy is noted, Gray says. Rather, her office will work with the property owner to resolve the problem in a mutually satisfactory way, she says.

For more information on the greenbelt exemption and to view the brochure titled Agricultural Classification Information, visit www.jeffersonpa.net.