Florida homeowners could see a significant reduction in property taxes as state lawmakers have proposed several bills aimed at offering financial relief.


Florida homeowners could see a significant reduction in property taxes as state lawmakers have proposed several bills aimed at offering financial relief. These bills range from eliminating taxes for all homestead property owners to lowering the cap on growth in assessed value.

Three of the eight proposed bills address different methods for eliminating property taxes. One proposal eliminates non-school homestead property taxes outright, another exempts individuals over 65 from paying them, and a third phases out non-school homestead property taxes over 10 years. 

Joyce Bieber, a St. James City homeowner, expressed her enthusiasm for the removal of property taxes.

“I’m absolutely for it, especially for seniors, as everything is going up, up, up, and our Social Security is not going up, our income is at a fixed level,” said Bieber. “I just think that would be a great break for everybody.”

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Matt Caldwell, the Lee County Property Appraiser and a former lawmaker, also shared his thoughts on the proposed taxpayer reforms. 

“There are some good proposals in there that I’d certainly love to see go forward, and a lot of stuff that I think still has to be vetted out,” said Caldwell. 

Some of the benefits homeowners could see deal with savings related to the homestead.

“There’s some really great stuff I’ve seen looking at shifting the homestead to a percentage savings or a percentage deduction,” said Caldwell. “Part of the problem with the homestead is it’s just a whole number… Percentages don’t care about inflation, right? It works no matter what happens in the market. That’d be a great advantage.”

Caldwell noted that all eight of the proposed bills would ultimately save homeowners money. The proposals also ensure that cuts to law enforcement funding are not allowed and exempt school taxes, which supply 46% of school funding.

“Depending on what gets adopted, all of these proposals would ultimately save homeowners on property taxes,” said Caldwell. “The real question is, where does that revenue get made up? Does that come from the existing budget? Does that come from additional new taxes?” 

Esteban Santis, a Florida Policy Institute Budget and Tax Policy Analyst, also warned of the financial implications of eliminating property taxes.

“I mean, just eliminating property taxes for homestead properties alone, that would cost, for counties, a $7.8 billion hole for municipalities,” said Santis.

The multi-billion-dollar hole could lead to new taxes or changes in existing taxation methods to compensate for the cut in property taxes.

The eight bills, most of which Caldwell explained are constitutional amendments, will have to go through the legislative session. Ultimately, it will be up to voters to decide their fate.

“If the House and Senate get together and decide to send all of them at the same time, it… might potentially set up some points of conflict,” said Caldwell. “But I think it’s unlikely voters would approve multiple pieces.”

Bieber expressed her desire for the public to have a say in these decisions.

“I would love to be able to vote on that,” said Bieber. “I am very much into letting the people make up their minds and choices and so forth and definitely send it to the polls and let us decide we certainly need a break.”

For a complete list and breakdown of the eight bills, see the Florida House of Representatives memorandum attached below.

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