"Ron DeSantis" by Gage Skidmore on Flickr is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0: https://bit.ly/42mA8TA
It is a similar story across the country, property tax bills have risen along with appreciating home values and inflation. Homeowners are getting squeezed and looking for answers.
In the Sunshine State, Governor DeSantis has clearly stated no tax hikes at the state level will be part of the property tax relief plan, saying earlier this year, “This body will not pass tax increases and this governor will not sign any tax increases.”
The Governor has signed the Taxpayer Protection Pledge committing to oppose all net tax increases.
This stance is incredibly important as the state tackles property tax reform ideas and a potential 2026 ballot measure on eliminating property taxes. Many states have made big mistakes by pursuing state tax increases to subsidize local governments in a vain attempt to “buy down” property tax bills.
During this year’s legislative session, Gov. DeSantis led an effort to send $1,000 checks to property taxpayers as well. After the legislature declined to approve the $1,000 checks, they launched a special committee to study property taxes and propose reform ideas that could lead to 2026 ballot measures.
With the Governor’s goal of eliminating property taxes, and the legislature examining the issue broadly, it seems anything is on the table.
One House member has already proposed a bill that would shift the tax burden by creating a new travel tax, a new sales tax, and a new real estate transfer tax, in order to eliminate property taxes.
Rep. Ryan Chamberlin’s plan would create a new 5% transaction fee on all real estate sales, a 5% “safety surcharge” on hotel rooms, rental cars and theme park tickets to fund public safety locally, and an extra 3-cent sales tax that school districts could vote on.
A tax shift opens the door for a bad trade for taxpayers: new statewide taxes are levied that cost taxpayers more than the current status quo. Then, when the dollars are used to subsidize localities, these local governments continue to grow and demand more tax dollars from the state. Local officials who make the budget decisions will not have to vote for tax hikes and face their local voters since state legislators will be the ones hiking taxes, taking fire, and turning the revenue over to locals.
This has led to disaster in states that have fallen into the trap, like Nebraska, where the state has attempted multiple tax increases to pay for property tax credits rather than permanently limit local government growth.
Florida’s new Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia continues to highlight how local governments are overspending tax dollars already. Giving these governments a new revenue source they are not politically responsible for would be a tragic error.
Floridians should be good hands with leadership committed to avoiding a worst case scenario where state taxes go up and local governments keep growing. Now, it is up to lawmakers to craft conservative alternatives like caps on local government spending growth, and policies that force locals to provide relief when they take in too much revenue.
