A special House committee will begin hearings this week to consider possible alternatives for asking Florida voters to cut property taxes.
House Speaker Daniel Perez, R-Miami, on Tuesday announced the creation of a select committee to look at potential property-tax changes that could go before voters in November 2026. The full House would take up the issue at the start of the 2026 legislative session in January.
“Given the importance of this issue we cannot afford further delay in moving this conversation beyond promises or generalities,” Perez said.
Perez’s announcement came as Gov. Ron DeSantis has called for eliminating property taxes or raising the homestead exemption. The House, by contrast, has proposed reducing the state’s sales-tax rate from 6 percent to 5.25 percent.
Perez called DeSantis’ property-tax elimination proposal “exciting.” But Perez said the governor hasn’t provided specifics, while questions have swirled about potential effects of such a move on the ability of local governments to pay for police, fire-rescue, infrastructure and other services.
“One of the things I have learned about our (House) committee process over the years is that our process is most effective when we can build our conversations around specifics rather than generalities,” Perez said. “In other words, saying, ‘property taxes bad’ isn’t the basis for developing a plan.”
Homeowners can qualify for homestead tax exemptions from local-government and school-district taxes on the first $25,000 of the appraised values of their properties and from local-government taxes on the value between $50,000 and $75,000.
Rep. Toby Overdorf, R-Palm City, and Rep. Vicki Lopez, R-Miami, will co-chair the select committee. The Legislature would have to approve any proposals before they could go on the November 2026 ballot.
Perez outlined five potential changes for the committee to consider as a “springboard” for discussions:
— Requiring cities, counties and special districts to hold referendums on eliminating homestead property taxes.
— Creating a $500,000 homestead exemption for non-school property taxes, which would increase to $1 million for residents who are age 65 and older or who have had a homestead for more than 30 years.
— Authorizing the Legislature to raise the homestead exemption by law, so future increases wouldn’t have to go to the ballot.
— Changing caps on annual increases in taxable property values. Currently, for example, such increases for homesteaded property are capped at 3 percent or the percent change in the Consumer Price Index, whichever is lower.
— Prohibiting governments from foreclosing on homesteaded property for unpaid taxes.
DeSantis has repeatedly called for cutting property taxes. He has said the state should shift the tax burden to tourists, non-Floridians and people with multiple homes.
But as lawmakers have considered a number of property-tax proposals, legislative leaders have pointed to a need to get more information from local governments and state economists. Senate President Ben Albritton, R-Wauchula, this month said he wanted to see the Legislature’s Economic and Demographic Research study the possibility of reducing or eliminating property taxes and report back by Nov. 1.
“I agree with Floridians who are not only frustrated by the cost of property taxes, but also with the very idea that you have to keep paying in perpetuity for the privilege of living in a home you bought and paid for long ago,” Albritton said in an April 9 memo to senators. “The whole concept doesn’t sit right with me either. However, I believe we need to accept the fact that unwinding the state’s largest source of revenue that funds local emergency response, public safety services, and education should not be taken lightly.”
A Senate Finance and Tax Committee analysis estimated local property-tax revenues total about $30 billion for non-school taxes and $20 billion for school taxes.
–Jim Turner, News Service of Florida
Michael Brown says
HOORAY!!!!!!!
Deborah Coffey says
We actually pay people to discuss this nonsense. You know what the ideas really indicate? They show how REALLY SCARED every Republican is because of their Fascist failures and of Donald Trump’s incredibly horrific first 100 days. They know…they’re about to be finished off in any new election. No property taxes? LOL. Desperation. And, we need to keep them that way. Keep up the protests!
Canary says
Property taxes aren’t “paying for the privilege of living in a home you bought and paid for”. They’re paying for the privilege of living in a community that has police, fire and ambulance services, that has roads, schools, and the enormous list of other things that our tax dollars pay for. Trying to push reliance on revenue from “tourists” – most likely through charging them higher bed and sales taxes – at a time when tourism from outside of the US (a significant portion of the state’s visitors) is plummeting…is shortsighted at best. Let’s not give them yet another reason to not come here and risk major budget shortfalls.
FLF says
Imagine the marketing campaign to people wanting to move to Florida. “No state property taxes”!! It makes you wonder what/who is really behind this. We continue to see this state destroyed by huge development that doesn’t make sense. I would love to see who is lobbying to get this passed. Next, I looked at my 2024 tax bill, it was $2840 with homestead, I then looked at the taxes paid above the school tax line and saw $1200. Is that what we would save on our tax bill? There is no state tax line on my bill. Per this article, school taxes are not part of this bill, correct?
JimboXYZ says
I think something has to be done to reign in FL counties that have gouged homeowners. Eliminating or greatly reducing property taxes is a full on inflationary model that will fail. We’re looking at % 512-700+ million in debt for Sewage Treatment Facilities. The growth of the last 4 years Biden-Harris was just a fantasy of an unaffordable wish list of creating any Utopia, especially/even Palm Coast. The concept is not about growing & throwing money at something that requires homeowners as the stakeholders to take ownership of raising their own families better. We still have 2 schools that some want to build for a declining student enrollment. 2021 was the dire report that by 2026 Flagler County Schools would be over capacity by 2025/2026. Enrollment is down from 2021 and yet there are those that want to build $ 400+ million for 2 new schools. I bet that $ 400+ million is closer to and well on the other side of $ 1/2 billion since the last meeting. Developers/Builders licking their chops for those profits as the main proponents of the next debt projects that should be squashed as unaffordable. Another big dollar item is the repavement of roads that has skyrocketed from the growth. Nobody wants growth if the existing tax base of home owners has to foot the bill for it. Flagler County is one of the few exceptions to the property tax gouging of the last 4+ years nationwide. South Florida is an overpriced unaffordable housing mess, every county down there has absurd property taxes. That’s really what they’re trying to address here. I wouldn’t expect Flagler County property taxes to drop much is at all. Just look at the taxes for any property listed on Zillow, you’ll see counties that tax as much as $ 5K for median level housing. That tax model needs to be fixed. Thank God that gouging didn’t happen here in Flagler County. Eliminate property taxes and the City/County councils will increase rates for roads, water. sewage, police, fire & whatever else they can spend 100’s of millions to billion(s) more for. The fix is to get governments back to reality, rather than delusional grandeur that every town in FL is Utopia.
Sherry says
I can’t even imagine where to begin with the pure stupidity in the state government of Florida. . . in addition to the completely idiotic comments here:
1. First vote for a madman for President. A person who has made “enemies” with many other countries. So much so that it is estimated that many thousands of tourists who planned to spend millions in the US for their holidays are going elsewhere.
2. Like it or not, Florida’s economic foundation is based almost entirely on “Tourism”. Voted for another idiot for governor. A man who is getting rid of cheap migrant labor so there will be no one to cook, wait tables, clean restaurants and hotels anyway. Oh yes, I forgot, change the rules so the teenagers can do that work instead of learning all they can in school. Right?
3. Get rid of taxes! That’s absolutely brilliant! With the tourist tax income likely diminishing, where in the hell is the money going to come from for. . . I don’t know. . . little things like roads, bridges, police, fire protection, schools, justice, prisons, rebuilding after climate change disasters, etc?
From some of the comments here, you “brain trust” Maga cult members certainly have the perfect state government for you. Enjoy! SMH!