TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) – The City of Tallahassee is set to discuss its voluntary separation incentive program and future property tax reductions in a budget workshop on Wednesday afternoon.
This comes after Florida Gov. DeSantis recently proposed a property tax plan that would prevent cities and counties from raising property taxes by more than 5%.
This plan has raised concerns across the state but the City of Tallahassee says they’re prepared because two months ago, the capital city rolled out a voluntary separation incentive program, that 5% of city employees have opted into.
“The VSI program addresses the anticipated financial pressure and uncertainty in future general fund revenue because of the state’s actions to overhaul the entire property tax system,” said the city of Tallahassee in a meeting agenda.
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The city continued that its current analysis of final staffing decisions, like rehiring, elimination and consolidation, found that the separation program saved the city about $8.46 million for 2027.
The total budget for 2027 is at $1.2 billion, according to the City of Tallahassee budget workshop agenda.
Leon County’s Property Appraiser reportedly estimated the impact of the overhaul of Florida’s tax system that is headed to the ballot in November. If 60% of voters approve the bill, the property appraiser estimates property tax reductions of about 11.2 million for 2028 and $17.8 million in 2029, per the meeting agenda.
“The estimated $29 million of lost revenue realized in the first two years after implementation will continue to compound over time as the growth in taxable value is legislatively constrained and as the homestead exemption grows annually,” the city said.
The meeting agenda states that this would mean a 13% decrease in taxable value in 2028 and a 21% decrease in 2029.
The budget workshop begins at 1 p.m. on Wednesday.
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