OCOEE, Fla. -- As the housing market remains in a well-documented slump, homeowners are left wondering why property taxes are holding steady as their home values decline.

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Terri Burns, of Ocoee, is trying to refinance her home at Willows on the Lake, but she soon learned that things are not what they used to be.

"Right now, our home over here has gone down $100,000. It's devastating. It's affected my whole life. You know, my son is getting ready to go to college," said Burns.

Burns was hoping to dip into her equity to help her son, Stoney, with college.

"Two years ago it was a different story. Two years ago everything had climbed up. I mean, the property was doing well. You know, we felt like we had a great investment because that's what we were told. When you buy a home, your investment is your first priority, and basically, it turned out to be our worst nightmare," said Burns.

Burns is not alone. The housing market is in a slump, and overall, Orange County property values were down 12 percent in 2007. Some cities saw an even bigger drop. Apopka and Ocoee are down 15 percent; Orlando is down 13 percent, and Maitland is down 11 percent. Winter Park is down 4 percent.

Orange County Property Appraiser Bill Donegan said some condominiums have seen decreases of between 33 percent and 36 percent. But the big question from homeowners is why aren't property taxes going down, too?

Donegan said to take a step back to 1994, when voters passed the Save Our Homes Amendment. It capped taxable property values at 3 percent per year, even as market values soared.

"As the market was going up, the assessed value was staying at 3 percent. Now, if the market value comes down, but not below the assessed, by rule, the assessed value will go up 3 percent," said Donegan.

Volusia County saw the biggest property slump at 13 percent. Flagler officials said property values dropped for the first time ever. They're down between 8 and 9 percent. Brevard, Marion and Lake all saw assessments fall about 6 percent. Seminole also saw its first decrease since 1990, with property values down more than 5 percent. In Osceola, values fell between 4 and 5 percent.

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