\n\t\t\t\t\t\tA proposal to eliminate property taxes in Florida by raising the homestead exemption to $250,000 has garnered significant voter support, with polls showing more than 80% in favor and 18% opposed. Residents of Laurel Estates, a 55+ manufactured home community in North Fort Myers, shared their perspectives on the potential impact of the plan. Barry Jenkins, who is making home improvements, said eliminating property taxes would allow him to invest more in his home and spend time with his family. “I could invest more in the home and see my relatives and grandkids,” Jenkins said. For retirees like Maryann Almeida, rising property taxes have become a financial burden. “Things are getting so expensive right now, it’s almost impossible to pay everything between the taxes, car insurance, house insurance,” Almeida said. “That’s a joke.” While Almeida supports the idea of eliminating property taxes, she expressed concerns about how the state would compensate for the lost revenue. “I don’t know where they’re going to make it up,” Almeida said. “I mean, sure, it sounds great, but it’s like, where are they going to make it up if we don’t pay taxes?” Lee County Property Appraiser Matt Caldwell estimated that the county could lose up to $1 billion in revenue if the homestead exemption is raised. “It’s ultimately going to have to come from higher taxes on commercial properties, higher taxes on the non-homestead properties,” Caldwell said. Caldwell warned that non-homestead properties could face tax increases of 20%, 30%, or even 40%, and fees could also rise. “Remember, you also pay taxes at the bottom of your property tax bill not based on value,” Caldwell said. “Those are potential revenue sources that need to be addressed if this bill moves forward.” Governor Ron DeSantis has argued that counties can reduce their budgets while the state develops a fund to support schools, law enforcement, and other essential services. Jenkins expressed optimism about the proposal. “I think there is enough income from other sources to mitigate the need for property taxes,” Jenkins said. As voters prepare to decide on the measure in November, Almeida remains uncertain. “I don’t know,” Almeida said. “There is a lot in question over this.” Residents of communities like Laurel Estates plan to closely monitor lawmakers’ decisions during a special session on Monday, which will determine the future of property taxes in Florida.DOWNLOAD\u202fthe free\u202fGulf Coast News app\u202ffor your latest news and alerts on breaking news, weather, sports, entertainment, and more on your phone or tablet. And check out the Very Local Gulf Coast app to stream news, entertainment and original programming on your TV.\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\tNORTH FORT MYERS, Fla. \u2014 \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
A proposal to eliminate property taxes in Florida by raising the homestead exemption to $250,000 has garnered significant voter support, with polls showing more than 80% in favor and 18% opposed. <\/p>\n
Residents of Laurel Estates, a 55+ manufactured home community in North Fort Myers, shared their perspectives on the potential impact of the plan. Barry Jenkins, who is making home improvements, said eliminating property taxes would allow him to invest more in his home and spend time with his family. <\/p>\n
“I could invest more in the home and see my relatives and grandkids,” Jenkins said. <\/p>\n
For retirees like Maryann Almeida, rising property taxes have become a financial burden. <\/p>\n
“Things are getting so expensive right now, it’s almost impossible to pay everything between the taxes, car insurance, house insurance,” Almeida said. “That’s a joke.” <\/p>\n
While Almeida supports the idea of eliminating property taxes, she expressed concerns about how the state would compensate for the lost revenue. <\/p>\n
“I don’t know where they’re going to make it up,” Almeida said. “I mean, sure, it sounds great, but it’s like, where are they going to make it up if we don’t pay taxes?” <\/p>\n
Lee County Property Appraiser Matt Caldwell estimated that the county could lose up to $1 billion in revenue if the homestead exemption is raised. <\/p>\n
“It’s ultimately going to have to come from higher taxes on commercial properties, higher taxes on the non-homestead properties,” Caldwell said. <\/p>\n
Caldwell warned that non-homestead properties could face tax increases of 20%, 30%, or even 40%, and fees could also rise. <\/p>\n
“Remember, you also pay taxes at the bottom of your property tax bill not based on value,” Caldwell said. “Those are potential revenue sources that need to be addressed if this bill moves forward.” <\/p>\n
Governor Ron DeSantis has argued that counties can reduce their budgets while the state develops a fund to support schools, law enforcement, and other essential services. <\/p>\n
Jenkins expressed optimism about the proposal. <\/p>\n
“I think there is enough income from other sources to mitigate the need for property taxes,” Jenkins said. <\/p>\n
As voters prepare to decide on the measure in November, Almeida remains uncertain. <\/p>\n
“I don’t know,” Almeida said. “There is a lot in question over this.” <\/p>\n
Residents of communities like Laurel Estates plan to closely monitor lawmakers’ decisions during a special session on Monday, which will determine the future of property taxes in Florida.<\/p>\n
DOWNLOAD\u202fthe free\u202fGulf Coast News app<\/a>\u202ffor your latest news and alerts on breaking news, weather, sports, entertainment, and more on your phone or tablet. And check out the Very Local Gulf Coast app<\/a> to stream news, entertainment and original programming on your TV.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A proposal to eliminate property taxes in Florida by raising the homestead exemption to $250,000 has garnered significant…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":290268,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[122712,122713,1896,104,28,30,29,47145,122714,15496,14559,213,122715,58593,79192,26109,7928,2171],"class_list":["post-290267","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-barry-jenkins","tag-caldwell","tag-concern","tag-entertainment","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news","tag-florida-voter","tag-home-community","tag-home-improvement","tag-homestead-exemption","tag-late-news","tag-laurel-estates","tag-maryann-almeida","tag-non-homestead-property","tag-property-taxis","tag-proposal","tag-resident"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/290267","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=290267"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/290267\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/290268"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=290267"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=290267"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=290267"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}