Once again, a cleaver law designed to limit the impact of the citizen VOTER, in favor of the wealthy and the entitled, thus allowing the CENTRALIZION OF POWER to go to the STATE.
I’d like to think that I’m intelligent enough to recognize that a “lame duck” governor is too busy looking to his own political future, rather than the ACTUAL needs of the people of the state he’s supposed to care about. But who am i, after all, just a retired HS English teacher, one who understands who pays for which salaries and services, and it’s NOT Tallahassee!
We may say that Florida is operating under the concept that local governments make local decisions, but then explain to me why DeSantis and the state legislature continuously passed measures that prevent local governments from doing the right thing.
People talk about this proposal reducing county funding by $5B for example. But I never see it expressed as a percentage of their total budget. Is it 1% of their total funding or 50%? $5B is a meaningless number without the denominator. As a voter I'd like to understand this before forming to an opinion.
This is just one more way to shift tax burden away from the rich and on to the poor. I hope renters are smart enough to vote against this. Rents will go up as landlords shift the cost of their property tax increase on to renters. Rental property is not homestead property and taxes will have to increase on all non homestead property. Rent will increase on small businesses. Meanwhile those wealthy enough to own their home will get a tax break. The richest Floridians will benefit the most because the rich tend to own the most expensive homes and the more expensive the home the higher the property tax.
It's extremely rare that I ever find myself more on the republican side of any issue, but this one is really bugging me. The framing of this as "eliminating property tax" is invalid and I think it creates a certain amount of knee-jerk reaction. All this is doing is raising the Homestead Exemption, which imo is LONG overdue.
The Homestead Exemption began in 1934 at $5000. It doubled to $10000 in the 1960's, and raised again to the current $25000 in 1980. 1980! (I know there's now an additional $25k for non-school assessments, but it doesn't seem to have made any discernable difference in the ever increasing property taxes I pay.)
So, what was the average home price in 1980 versus 2027? Should the Homestead Exemption be the same amount now as it was over 45 years ago? While I'd much rather see it changed to an indexed amount, tied to inflation or housing market, for example, raising it to $150,000 for 2027 and $250,000 for 2028 doesn't seem unreasonable. I'm far from wealthy and my house is below the average value. And I would still pay property taxes under this proposal.
I am retired after teaching in CA and MA schools. When property taxes are cut city budgets for education, police, fire, clean drinking water and many services are often reduced. Voters must understand the relationship of lower budgets on quality of life services. Banning septic disposal combined with expensive and unpopular investment in a water treatment plant resulted in cleaner water for swimming and clean shellfish clam consumption in my community north of Boston. The mayor that was responsible for investing in clean water was at once unpopular when he made his proposal. Later he was praised for his vision. Florida must protect its water resources and voters must choose leaders with vision.
What will happen is the counties will be forced to increase local sale tax, special fees for license plates, utilities, services such as cable and fiber, and the list goes on, One of the very negative results will passing this cost onto the lower end of the economic spectrum.
This framing changes the whole picture. Approval of DeSantis’s plan would certainly shift the tax burden away from wealthier individuals and make the state less affordable, but recognizing that it would also give Tallahassee more power over the purse is an important distinction.
I hope it doesn't happen because it doesn't help the average Floridian, just the many rich people moving here. I think it's a ploy to take decision-making away from the local cities/counties and into the hands of the state.
You may be right about the ploy, but there is a 5 year waiting period for rich people (or anyone) moving here. From page 17 of the text of the legislation: "Requires any person who establishes Florida residency after January 1, 2027, to maintain Florida residency for five years prior to receiving the increased homestead exemption."
Exactly, it is meant to transfer power to Tallahassee, where we will have no control. And we will have to beg the governor to get our money back. Any taxes will have to be dolled out to small poor counties whose tax base will be zero. So, in essence, money collected in South Florida will now go to the poor counties in central and north Florida so they can maintain some minimum level of police, fire and other essential services.
Save our homes was created by State of Florida and is just Public Relations Advertising for the states opinion. It is not a reliable impartial reviewer of the policy. I will await true impartial analysis before i make a decision. I would like the tax exemption increase personally. I want to know what is most likely done by counties to replace it. If its increased sales tax im ok with that. If its reduced emergency services or hospital cuts im not ok with it.
DeSantis was part of the Tea Party in Congress. He hates Government and doesn’t value anything that it is successful at like Parks, Libraries, Education, or any other public services. A spoiled child with a wasted IVY League education. I’m sure he’s auditioning for a Grift position in the Trump Bro-sphere.
I ran for the Florida Legislature as a Democrat twice, in 2016 and 2022. One thing I learned was that the Florida Legislature, in Tallahassee, is farther away from the state’s major metro areas than any other state. They are able to get away with more because of a lack of local news coverage. As they say, while the cat’s away, the mice will be rats.
Once again, a cleaver law designed to limit the impact of the citizen VOTER, in favor of the wealthy and the entitled, thus allowing the CENTRALIZION OF POWER to go to the STATE.
I’d like to think that I’m intelligent enough to recognize that a “lame duck” governor is too busy looking to his own political future, rather than the ACTUAL needs of the people of the state he’s supposed to care about. But who am i, after all, just a retired HS English teacher, one who understands who pays for which salaries and services, and it’s NOT Tallahassee!
We may say that Florida is operating under the concept that local governments make local decisions, but then explain to me why DeSantis and the state legislature continuously passed measures that prevent local governments from doing the right thing.
People talk about this proposal reducing county funding by $5B for example. But I never see it expressed as a percentage of their total budget. Is it 1% of their total funding or 50%? $5B is a meaningless number without the denominator. As a voter I'd like to understand this before forming to an opinion.
This is just one more way to shift tax burden away from the rich and on to the poor. I hope renters are smart enough to vote against this. Rents will go up as landlords shift the cost of their property tax increase on to renters. Rental property is not homestead property and taxes will have to increase on all non homestead property. Rent will increase on small businesses. Meanwhile those wealthy enough to own their home will get a tax break. The richest Floridians will benefit the most because the rich tend to own the most expensive homes and the more expensive the home the higher the property tax.
Excellent look at this issue, thank you.
It's extremely rare that I ever find myself more on the republican side of any issue, but this one is really bugging me. The framing of this as "eliminating property tax" is invalid and I think it creates a certain amount of knee-jerk reaction. All this is doing is raising the Homestead Exemption, which imo is LONG overdue.
The Homestead Exemption began in 1934 at $5000. It doubled to $10000 in the 1960's, and raised again to the current $25000 in 1980. 1980! (I know there's now an additional $25k for non-school assessments, but it doesn't seem to have made any discernable difference in the ever increasing property taxes I pay.)
So, what was the average home price in 1980 versus 2027? Should the Homestead Exemption be the same amount now as it was over 45 years ago? While I'd much rather see it changed to an indexed amount, tied to inflation or housing market, for example, raising it to $150,000 for 2027 and $250,000 for 2028 doesn't seem unreasonable. I'm far from wealthy and my house is below the average value. And I would still pay property taxes under this proposal.
I am retired after teaching in CA and MA schools. When property taxes are cut city budgets for education, police, fire, clean drinking water and many services are often reduced. Voters must understand the relationship of lower budgets on quality of life services. Banning septic disposal combined with expensive and unpopular investment in a water treatment plant resulted in cleaner water for swimming and clean shellfish clam consumption in my community north of Boston. The mayor that was responsible for investing in clean water was at once unpopular when he made his proposal. Later he was praised for his vision. Florida must protect its water resources and voters must choose leaders with vision.
What will happen is the counties will be forced to increase local sale tax, special fees for license plates, utilities, services such as cable and fiber, and the list goes on, One of the very negative results will passing this cost onto the lower end of the economic spectrum.
The cost of Gov DiSantis’ plan to cut property taxes is as stupid and thoughtless as he is.
This framing changes the whole picture. Approval of DeSantis’s plan would certainly shift the tax burden away from wealthier individuals and make the state less affordable, but recognizing that it would also give Tallahassee more power over the purse is an important distinction.
I hope it doesn't happen because it doesn't help the average Floridian, just the many rich people moving here. I think it's a ploy to take decision-making away from the local cities/counties and into the hands of the state.
You may be right about the ploy, but there is a 5 year waiting period for rich people (or anyone) moving here. From page 17 of the text of the legislation: "Requires any person who establishes Florida residency after January 1, 2027, to maintain Florida residency for five years prior to receiving the increased homestead exemption."
Even so, there are many rich people who are already here, and they don't need any breaks for their $170M mansion.
Exactly, it is meant to transfer power to Tallahassee, where we will have no control. And we will have to beg the governor to get our money back. Any taxes will have to be dolled out to small poor counties whose tax base will be zero. So, in essence, money collected in South Florida will now go to the poor counties in central and north Florida so they can maintain some minimum level of police, fire and other essential services.
Save Our Homes has this to say about it:
https://www.saveourhomesfl.com/spending
It's clear which side of the issue they are on.
Save our homes was created by State of Florida and is just Public Relations Advertising for the states opinion. It is not a reliable impartial reviewer of the policy. I will await true impartial analysis before i make a decision. I would like the tax exemption increase personally. I want to know what is most likely done by counties to replace it. If its increased sales tax im ok with that. If its reduced emergency services or hospital cuts im not ok with it.
DeSantis was part of the Tea Party in Congress. He hates Government and doesn’t value anything that it is successful at like Parks, Libraries, Education, or any other public services. A spoiled child with a wasted IVY League education. I’m sure he’s auditioning for a Grift position in the Trump Bro-sphere.
I ran for the Florida Legislature as a Democrat twice, in 2016 and 2022. One thing I learned was that the Florida Legislature, in Tallahassee, is farther away from the state’s major metro areas than any other state. They are able to get away with more because of a lack of local news coverage. As they say, while the cat’s away, the mice will be rats.