losing millions<\/a> in revenue has sent shock waves through cities and counties statewide.<\/p>\n![\"Fort](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/tfl-l-chris-evert-stadium11.jpg\")
Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis, shown on Dec. 8, says he hopes voters understand what\u2019s at stake if property tax cuts go through. (Carline Jean\/South Florida Sun Sentinel)<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s voodoo economics 2.0,\u201d Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis said. \u201cIf we lose income, we have to cut services. We may have to shut down our parks division. There will be no future raises for police and fire. I just think it\u2019s a very short-sighted political tactic.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trantalis says he hopes voters understand what\u2019s at stake.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s going to cause a recession the likes of which Florida has not seen in decades,\u201d Trantalis said. \u201cIt could push rents up. And people are going to be pushed out of their homes because we might have to raise taxes on their properties. The impact is going to reverberate in a way that\u2019s going to be catastrophic.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kiar, a former state representative who also served on the County Commission, said he is not taking an official position on property tax cuts.<\/p>\n
His analysis is meant for informational purposes only, he says.<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe that anything that\u2019s placed on the ballot will be the most important vote that any person in Florida is going to make,\u201d Kiar said. \u201cBecause it will essentially change the way things are. When you amend the constitution, it\u2019s there forever. My goal is to provide all the information to the public so they can make the best, most informed vote possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
The governor needs approval from at least 60% of the Legislature for the proposal to make it onto the ballot for the Nov. 3 election. Passage requires approval from at least 60% of voters.<\/p>\n
If the measure does make it on the ballot, most people are going to vote for it, predicts Kitty McGowan, president of Fort Lauderdale\u2019s Edgewood Civic Association.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s been so much talk of doom and gloom by the cities,\u201d she said. \u201cThey\u2019ve gotten fat and happy expecting all this revenue. I\u2019m ecstatic. But most people think it\u2019s not going to happen. And they\u2019re not going to get their hopes up. It\u2019s like, \u2018I\u2019ll stand by and see.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Homeowners are thrilled about the prospect of a tax break, said Chris Williams, president of Fort Lauderdale\u2019s Coral Ridge Association.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re saying, \u2018Oh my God, this is going to be great,\u201d he said. \u201cPeople are going to vote for it. It\u2019s not as catastrophic as when they were talking about eliminating property taxes for everyone. This is much more palatable.\u201d<\/p>\n
The impact on local government would be markedly less drastic in the first year and get more intense in the second year, Kiar\u2019s analysis shows.<\/p>\n
The county stands to lose $195 million in the first year, or 10.8% of its property revenues. In the second year, the losses would increase to $333.8 million, or 18.5%<\/p>\n
The School District would lose $294 million in the first year, or 13.1%. In the second year, the losses would increase to $455 million, or 20.2%.<\/p>\n
Fort Lauderdale, the county\u2019s most populous city, would lose $14.5 million in the first year, or 5.3% of its property tax revenues. In the second year, the impact would increase to $26 million, or 9.4%.<\/p>\n
Pembroke Pines, Broward\u2019s second most populous city, would lose $20.7 million in the first year, or 17.5% of its property tax revenues. In the second year, the loss would increase to $36 million, or 30.3%.<\/p>\n
Hollywood, Broward\u2019s third most populous city, would lose $20.3 million in the first year, of 9.3% of its property tax revenues. The loss would jump to $33.9 million in the second year, or 15.6%.<\/p>\n
Here are more details from Kiar\u2019s analysis of the impact on Broward County:<\/p>\n
$150,000 Homestead Exemption to be applied in Year 1<\/p>\n
Number of Homesteaded Properties: 424,899<\/p>\n
Average Savings for Property Owner: $2,146<\/p>\n
Properties that would become fully exempt from property taxes: 98,742<\/p>\n
Total Taxes Levied: $1,804,017,327<\/p>\n
Total Taxes Levied if cuts in effect for 2025: $1,609,159,102<\/p>\n
Total Tax Dollar Impact: $194,858,225 (10.8% decrease)<\/p>\n
$250,000 Homestead Exemption to be applied in Year 2<\/p>\n
Number of Homesteaded Properties: 424,899<\/p>\n
Average Savings for Property Owner: $4,129<\/p>\n
Properties that would become fully exempt from property taxes: 189,000<\/p>\n
Total Taxes Levied: $1,804,017,327<\/p>\n
Total Taxes Levied if in effect for 2025: $1,470,227,093<\/p>\n
Total Tax Dollar Impact: $333,790,234 (18.5% decrease)<\/p>\n
Full Elimination of Ad Valorem Taxes for Homesteaded Properties<\/p>\n
Number of Homesteaded Properties: 424,899<\/p>\n
Average Savings for Property Owner: $5,278<\/p>\n
Properties fully exempt from property taxes: 424,899<\/p>\n
Total Taxes Levied: $1,804,017,327<\/p>\n
Total Taxes Levied if in effect for 2025: $1,179,209,687<\/p>\n
Total Tax Dollar Impact: $624,807,640 (34.6% decrease)<\/p>\n
Susannah Bryan can be reached at sbryan@sunsentinel.com. Follow me on X @Susannah_Bryan<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The latest pitch for property tax cuts from Gov. Ron DeSantis has both homeowners and cities around the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":289221,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[506,76771,28,249,251,250,686,114,266,96277,6920,109],"class_list":["post-289220","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fort-lauderdale","tag-broward-county","tag-cooper-city","tag-florida","tag-fort-lauderdale","tag-fort-lauderdale-headlines","tag-fort-lauderdale-news","tag-hollywood","tag-latest-headlines","tag-local-news","tag-pembroke-park","tag-pembroke-pines","tag-social"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/289220","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=289220"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/289220\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/289221"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=289220"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=289220"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=289220"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}