Property taxes – Pictured: Fountain pen and a property/liability claim form on a clipboard waiting to be completed, filled and signed by a policyholder or insured person. Photo and Caption: William Potter/Shutterstock.com
A joint resolution approved by a House committee on Thursday is now scheduled to go to the full House; it is the second such joint resolution to pass all of its assigned committees in the chamber this session, despite the fact that Florida’s top GOP leaders now all say they anticipate putting only one constitutional amendment on the ballot this fall on reducing property taxes.
A resolution (HJR 203) that would progressively raise the homestead exemption for non-school-related property taxes by $100,000 annually for ten years was approved by the House Ways and Means Committee on a party-line vote.
One of the benefits of her idea, according to the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Monique Miller, R-Palm Bay, is that it won’t shock local governments with a revenue cut right away because it will take up to ten years for it to fully take effect. She claimed, however, that it would give homesteaded property owners tax relief far sooner.
“Most Floridians will have zero non-school ad valorem property taxes by 2030, given that the median home price is about $350,000,” Miller told the State House Affairs Committee last week.
Rep. Robin Bartleman, D-Weston, was forced to essentially reiterate that forecast, stating that after just three years, more than 300 cities in the state will not be able to collect any property taxes because the median home price in Florida is between $300,000 and $400,000.
“The fact that it’s on the ballot for ten years, but by the time you do the math, they’ll all be phased out by year four or five,” she remarked. “Is it fair to do that to the voters? Ten years is a reasonable glide path, but in practice, the home values shorten that glide path.”
Miller admitted that in only three years, some localities might be “phased out” of collecting any property taxes.
Local government representatives retaliate
Local government representatives who flew to Tallahassee to speak during the meeting’s public comment period stated that the idea of drastically lowering or doing away with property taxes would be extremely harmful to their citizens.
Manatee County Republican commissioner George Kruse contended that the claim that all residents desire lower taxes is false. He said that in previous years, Manatee voters have routinely approved tax increases on the ballot for environmental issues, fire districts, and school districts.
“Every two years, they get to vote half of us out, and every four years, they get to vote all of us out,” Kruse stated. “They just want smart use of taxes, and it’s up to us to determine how best to do that.”
House Republicans have filed proposed constitutional changes pertaining to property taxes, but none of them make sense, according to Pasco County Commissioner Jack Mariano, another elected Republican.
“We’ve examined all of them, and they’re all terrible for us,” he stated.
Mariano provided the Phoenix with a spreadsheet that showed Pasco County would have an immediate revenue loss of 21% in the first year following the amendment’s (if adopted) implementation, rising to as much as 45 percent by the fifth year of the 10-year phaseout.
Mariano mentioned that Pasco voters have supported a one-cent sales tax known as “Penny for Pasco” three times because it has helped pay for community facilities including parks, libraries, and bike trails.
Orange County Commissioner Nicole Wilson pointed out that while the resolution forbids cutting police and firefighter budgets, it does nothing to maintain infrastructure spending. “When they call for assistance, emergency response members—not just firefighters, paramedics, law enforcement, or 911—need to be there, but they also need to be able to get there, and that’s infrastructure,” she stated.
The second property tax proposal to pass every committee in the House is Miller’s resolution. Rep. Demi Busatta, R-Coral Gables, is the sponsor of a resolution (HJR 209) that would exempt $200,000 of a homestead property’s assessed value from non-school property taxes, if the property is insured. The House calendar already includes it for the entire chamber to review.
It is currently unknown, though, if the resolution will eventually be put to a vote as a constitutional amendment. In the Florida Senate, neither Busatta’s nor Miller’s resolutions had any allies. For a joint resolution to be on the November ballot, three-fifths of both chambers must pass it.
Additionally, Senate President Ben Albritton, Governor Ron DeSantis, and House Speaker Daniel Perez recently stated that it would likely be best if only one such tax-related constitutional amendment was put to a vote later this year. For it to become law, 60 percent of voters would need to approve it.
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Chris began his writing as a hobby while attending Florida Southern College in Lakeland, Florida. Today he and his wife live in the Orlando area with their three children and dog.
