Talahassee – Gov. Ron DeSantis suggests eliminating Florida property taxes.
The idea is nothing new. But in a political situation focused on government efficiency, DeSantis has broken past precedents, saying that the $55 billion shortfall in property taxes for Florida school districts and local governments doesn’t match any other tax hike.
“Don’t let anyone tell us we’re asking for a tax increase in our state,” DeSantis said during a state speech on March 4th. “We are a taxpayer-friendly state and still exist.”
The council does not control property taxes, the territory of local government. This proposal must be directed to voters through constitutional amendments.
“This is something we’ll work on over these next few months, not this, to put it at the next legislative meeting,” DeSantis said at a press conference following his address.
It is difficult to make up for the $55 billion shortfall caused by eliminating Florida property taxes, especially in Florida, where there is no income tax. A similar proposal that emerged 18 years ago offsets the decline in revenue from property taxes, and increases in sales tax, a concept that can be studied again. Such a change in the tax structure would result in a significant leverage of the state’s community as most sales taxes enter the state’s Treasury Department. It is up to the lawmakers to decide how and how much they will be distributed to local governments.
“The property tax is not a complete tax, but it provides local autonomy. Esteban Leonardo Santis, an analyst at the left-leaning Florida Institute of Policy Research, who studied the abolition of Florida property taxes, said. “We need to look at ways to be able to provide relief, but I don’t think we should eliminate it.”
Sen. Jonathan Martin of Fort Myers Republican, has introduced a bill that directed state economists to study the abolition of property taxes. Martin did not coordinate the proposal with the governor’s office, but said the study would like to include options in the study to reduce government spending or compensate for tax cuts in other ways, such as tariffs.
“There’s this new conversation. Let’s look at the current situation and see if it’s worth continuing,” Martin said.
But there are early concerns from Martin’s colleagues about how tax cuts on fixed assets will affect Floridians’ services, from fire safety to public schools and police.
Sen. Kathleen Pasidomo, a Naples Republican, said the bill he read for the session was tense.
“I think we have to look at that in total and figure out what we’re financially responsible,” Pasidomo said during a Senate panel discussion last week on the issue.
Which fixed assets funds
Since there is no income tax in Florida, most of the state’s income comes from sales and documentary stamp duty.
Taxes funding local governments are on tangible property and sales. As property values rise in Florida, local governments and school districts are paying taxes and spending is increasing. Critics argue that spending is out of control, but services have not improved.
Last year, property taxes raised $55 billion in local and school district revenues, doubled over the past decade, according to a March 5 staff presentation to the Florida Senate Committee’s Finance and Taxation Committee.
The majority of that money ($33.7 billion) went to government and social programs, including police, firefighters and prisons. The rest was $21.5 billion and attended school.
In an opening day speech, Senate Speaker Ben Albritton, a Republican from Wautula, said his room would “explor the options Floridians’ vote to lower their property taxes.”
Albritton philosophically agrees with the governor’s argument and is interested in saving money through government efficiency, a spokesperson on Friday said. However, Albritton is concerned about the impact on rural communities and focuses on support through the theme of “rural renaissance.”
“One of the key elements of the ‘rural renaissance’ addresses the fact that there are existing challenges that arise from the tax bases in low counties that affect education and public services, such as law enforcement and emergency response,” the spokesperson said.
Impact on schools
When state tax experts presented to the senators last week how property taxes would be used in Florida, he split it into two categories: schools and all other.
Schools are the largest beneficiaries of property taxes. According to an analysis by the Florida Institute of Policy Research, schools will lose at least half of their income if property taxes are abolished.
Andrew Spur, president of the Florida Education Association, agreed to the estimate.
“Unless the state stepped up and filled it for that, you’re going to see a crisis in terms of funding our public schools,” Spur said.
Past proposal: Tax exchange
After the state’s state, DeSantis told reporters that one reason for wanting to eliminate property taxes is “philosophical.” If you have to pay annual taxes to maintain your home, you really don’t own it, he said.
“Is that private property?” DeSantis said.
This argument reflects what was created in 2007, when he was chairman of the Florida family, and was now US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio. However, Rubio’s failed proposals were different. He wanted to exchange property taxes for sales tax. Desantis, on the other hand, does not suggest replacing taxes with anything else.
But there’s still time. Even if it was feasible, Desantis’ proposal did not appear before voters until 2026.
“People get more and more irritated about property taxes every year,” said Evan Power, chairman of the Republican Party of Florida. “Whether or not the Homestead exemption increases to $100,000 or the property taxes will be removed, I think there will be some sort of property tax in the next vote.”
Santis, an analyst at the Florida Institute of Policy Research, said there are other options to pay government programs in Florida beyond property and sales tax. These options include enforcing businesses to report profits from other states, claiming taxes on sales of more expensive homes, and taxing intangible properties such as stocks and bonds that lawmakers abolished in 2006.
“We have the most regressed tax laws in the country,” Santis said. “There are proactive steps we can take to make the tax credit even more fair, and then we also provide relief.”
Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau Reporter Lawrence Mower and Herald Reporter Clara-Sophia Daly contributed to this report.
