TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WFLA) — State lawmakers are heeding Gov. Ron DeSantis’ calls to cut property taxes, and the Senate is proposing its own ideas for the first time.
“Our hope is that whatever proposal they choose will help the residents of this state, especially our seniors, who have taken advantage of bond increases over and over again,” said State Sen. Mac Bernard (D-West Palm Beach).
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Mr Barnard submitted five additional proposals for councilors to consider.
SJR 270 exempts the non-school portion of property taxes for Florida seniors age 65 and older who have applied for a homestead exemption in the state for at least five years and whose annual household income does not exceed $350,000.
SJR 274 provides additional residential property tax benefits to long-term homeowners.
The appraised value of real estate will not increase if the period of ownership and residence exceeds 20 years. After 30 years of ownership and occupancy, homeowners receive an additional homeownership tax exemption equal to 50% of the property’s assessed value.
For ad valorem tax purposes, SJR 278 limits the increase in the assessed value of a new homestead property after an ownership change to 150% of the property’s prior year assessed value, provided the assessed value is less than $500,000.
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SJR 282 limits the assessed value of real property to the lower of 3% or the percentage change in the Consumer Price Index if the property is owned by a small business and used for commercial purposes.
If passed, SJR 270, 274, 278, and 282 would appear on the ballot in November 2026. An amendment to the Florida Constitution must receive 60% of the vote to pass.
In addition to the Senate joint resolution, Senator Bernard introduced Senate Bill 286. This bill would permit a Florida resident to make changes, additions, or improvements to a homestead without increasing the assessed value of the homestead property if the total fair value of the changes, additions, or improvements to the homestead property is less than $100,000.
“With the property tax debate happening across the state of Florida, we don’t want to stand in the way of the many small businesses that own real estate,” Bernard said.
There are currently 13 options on the table, and while the House’s plan appears to include sweeping reforms, the Senate’s plan is a more targeted and focused approach.
But regardless of the number of options, the governor doesn’t seem too impressed, calling the proposal political theater on social media.
However, House Speaker Danny Perez fired back at these statements, saying, “The governor has not put out a plan for property taxes. Well, it’s unclear what the governor wants to do. I personally reached out to him to share the House’s proposal, but… “Right now he doesn’t want to have a dialogue. So the governor says he wants to ‘repeal’ the property tax, but how? We don’t have any details. But what the House has is a proposal that reflects policy.” The governor’s media comments could garner support from voters in November — in addition to repealing the non-school property tax on all homesteads, he’s on top of a variety of ballot plans, some proposing tax cuts and others fixing broken parts of the system. We have made multiple offers in good faith because we do not know what the other parties intend to do, if they intend to do so. ”
So far, House Republicans have floated ideas and one Senate Democrat has shared a property tax plan, but the Senate president and his Republican majority have yet to take an opinion.
