TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — State lawmakers will start debating how best to lower or eliminate property taxes on Monday, and ahead of their first meeting, one of the state’s leading tax watchdogs is pushing for a measured approach.
Florida TaxWatch is tossing a handful of options on the table that range from a steady phase-out of property taxes over the course of 10 to 30 years to immediate property tax elimination for seniors over the age of 65.
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“Each option has significant benefits like incentivizing homeownership, but all come with substantial tradeoffs that require local governments to analyze current budgets and community needs and institute strong fiscal policies and management to ensure critical government services are delivered without merely shifting the burden to non-homestead properties,” said Florida TaxWatch Vice President of Research Brandi Gunder.
At least one state lawmaker has also developed a proposal, that seeks to replace property taxes with new fees and sales taxes.
Those fees would be applied to ride-sharing trips, Airbnb rentals and hotel stays for visitors to the state.
A three percent sales tax increase would also be implemented to make up for lost school revenues.
“We do have to talk about revenue replacement,” said State Representative Dean Black (R-Yulee).
Black is serving on the special committee on property tax.
He said he’s open to a wide range of possible options to address the growing burden of property taxes on homeowners.
But he agreed that full, immediate elimination without giving local governments an opportunity to adjust to a loss of $55 billion worth of revenue likely isn’t the way to go.
“To do it responsibly, you need to figure out exactly what you’re going to do with your property taxes and along what timescale and give local governments a chance to get feedback from the public, from their constituents and find out what they want,” said Black.
In the committee’s first meeting, lawmakers will hear several presentations on school taxes, existing property tax exemptions and fiscally constrained counties.
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