This summer, the Florida Legislature quickly passed a major overhaul of the state's property tax system. Under Florida Senate Bill 2-F, the "Save our Homes from Excessive Property Taxes Act," exempts the first $250,000 of a homestead property's value from taxation and requires a schedule for full elimination of those taxes.
Because the shift requires an amendment to the state's constitution, 60% of voters will have to approve it via ballot referendum in November for it to actually go into effect.
Though the move is meant to lower the cost of living for Floridia homeowners, local governments are sounding the alarm about how this will affect a majority of services. For many, property taxes are the main source of revenue to pay for local services.
In a memo sent June 1, Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava told local leaders the county expects a revenue shortfall of $386 million if this change ultimately goes through. That number is expected to nearly double in 2028, amounting to a $696 million total revenue loss.
"As representatives of Miami-Dade County's workforce, you should be aware that these proposals could have significant consequences for County employees and the long-term financial stability that supports our workforce," Levine Cava wrote.
Because property taxes are an integral part of municipal revenue, local leaders are expecting cuts to services like libraries, transportation and public medical care.
"I'm terrified. At a library level, this threat is absolutely existential. In the first year, we're expecting a $20 million cut just to the library system's budget," said Marylynne Schwartz, president of the nonprofit Friends of the Miami-Dade Public Library.
The majority of public library budgets are funded by a millage on ad valorem taxes. In Miami-Dade, this millage pays for services like free tutoring for children, internet and printing services for those without computers at home, and the existence of a free and air-conditioned space for members of the public.
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Schwartz tells WLRN her organization expects much of this to be on the cutting room floor if property taxes are eliminated.
" It will absolutely result in branch closures, fewer hours, employee layoffs, programmatic cuts. I mean, everything that the library has worked so hard to build is at jeopardy because of this referendum," she said.
Gov. Ron DeSantis, who pushed the bill through the Legislature, claims its goal is to reduce the cost of living in an increasingly unaffordable Florida.
"Property tax revenue collected by local governments has nearly doubled in the past seven years and is expected to reach an astounding $83 billion by 2032. Florida homeowners need relief. Now is the time to stand up for taxpayers, enact a historic reform, and save the home of every Floridian," DeSantis said in a statement.
Maria Llorens, policy and research director for the Miami Workers Center, a tenant advocacy group, argues the knock-on effects of the bill are likely to make things more unaffordable, not less. Local governments are likely to increase tax rates on non-homesteaded properties, and that increased tax burden will trickle down to renters. For those looking to become homeowners in the future and benefit from the tax break, Llorens contends that the finish line will only get further away.
"Especially in urban areas like Miami, we've had this influx of wealthy people that has really raised property values while wages don't really keep up and we're not seeing the kinds of jobs that would allow people to become homeowners here," Llorens said. "So I think that's a risky proposition to assume that this is just gonna get better all on its own."
Along with increasing the state's homestead tax exemption, the proposed constitutional amendment would also significantly limit how local governments can spend property tax revenue to only specific categories that are, to this point, vague and unclear according to policy experts.
Economists believe cities and counties in Florida could lose upwards of $5 billion in the first year this goes into effect, if 60% of Florida voters approve the change in November.
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