Many Florida homeowners would see their property tax bills eliminated or severely cut under a plan released Wednesday by Gov. Ron DeSantis.
DeSantis is calling for the Legislature to convene on Monday to consider his proposal, which, if they approve it, would appear on the November ballot. At least 60% of voters would need to support the measure for it to take effect.
Under the plan, the current exemption for homestead properties would rise from $50,000 to $250,000 immediately, with a further expansion to be scheduled by the Legislature after the measure is passed that would eventually eliminate taxes completely for those properties.
“I want to get something done. I want to make sure people can go and vote for something, and then see something that's going to be very, very meaningful in their lives,” DeSantis said while at Hilton Garden Inn Tampa Airport Westshore.
Lawmakers have already completed one special session this year to pass new congressional districts, and are in the middle of another to complete the budget they failed to finish during the regular session.
The formal proclamation for the special session and the details of his legislation were not immediately posted.
Under current law, homeowners can qualify for homestead exemptions from the first $25,000 of assessed value, and from the $50,000 to $75,000 portion of their assessed value for non-school taxes.
The state also offers “Save Our Homes” for homeowners, which places a 3% cap on annual increases in the taxable values of homestead property.
DeSantis estimated his proposal would initially eliminate property taxes for about 60% of currently homestead property owners. When the exemption is raised to $500,000, around 92% of homesteaded properties would be tax-free, DeSantis said.
Senate President Ben Albritton, R-Wauchula, said in a memo to senators that the governor’s approach “will provide meaningful relief for Florida families, while protecting businesses from extreme tax increases and safeguarding local funding for public safety, education, and our clean water infrastructure.”
House Speaker Daniel Perez, R-Miami, issued a more succinct statement that implied the governor’s proposal was not presented to legislative leaders before Wednesday's announcement.
“The Florida House has already passed a proposed constitutional amendment to eliminate homestead property taxes,” Perez said in the statement. “We are pleased the Governor has finally gotten around to share an actual proposal. We look forward to reviewing it once we have received the language."
The issue of tax cuts has been one of several divides between Perez and DeSantis for over a year.
Perez initially sought a reduction in the state’s sales tax rate. But as DeSantis increased his calls for lawmakers to enact a property tax proposal, the House introduced a series of property tax proposals in October.
One House proposal would have phased out the non-school homestead tax by increasing the exemption by $100,000 a year. The state Revenue Estimating Conference projected the impact to local governments at $4.4 billion in the first year enacted, growing to $13.3 billion a year.
The House approved a proposal in February to eliminate most non-school homestead property taxes, but it failed to gain Senate support due to the effect on small counties expected to lose their tax base.
Florida Association of Counties deputy executive director Cragin Mosteller said the counties are up for the pending special session conversation, but it needs to be “grounded in real budget math and the long-term needs of Florida’s communities.
“Floridians want affordability, but eliminating property taxes does not eliminate the cost of infrastructure, emergency response, and other essential local services,” Mosteller replied in an email. “Those costs do not disappear — they shift somewhere else, often onto businesses, renters, and working families.”
Under DeSantis’ proposal, the property tax revenue that remains would only be able to pay for schools, law enforcement, fire, and other core services. Also, it would set up a trust fund to help mostly rural counties without a large tax base, which has been a concern of Senate leadership.
DeSantis and Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia have traveled the state the past year criticizing local government spending, noting it has nearly doubled over the past seven years.
On Tuesday, House Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell, D-Tampa, characterized the move to limit homesteaded property tax as “a boneheaded move.”
“Any cut, even though it might seem small in the grand scheme of things, could be devastating. There is no plan to make our local governments whole on the back end,” Driskell told reporters in a conference call. “Property taxes cover the costs of law enforcement and first responders. They make sure that you can visit the library without having to pay a fee. Once you start explaining these things, you start to understand that property taxes are not the real enemy here.”