Danny McAuliffe
The state continues to be a relatively low-tax environment, but Floridians still face higher local tax burdens than others, according to a new report from fiscal watchdog nonprofit Florida TaxWatch.
One of just seven states without a personal income tax, Florida’s state and local tax revenue figures out to $5,679 per person — the ninth-lowest amount in the U.S.
But governments in Florida take 53.3 percent of their revenue from local taxes. That’s the second-highest percentage in the U.S., falling just behind New York. Florida also has the fifteenth-highest amount of local taxes collected per person, according to the most recent data available.
“While Florida’s state tax and revenue burdens are very low compared to the other states, local tax burdens are much higher,” reads a TaxWatch news release accompanying the report.
TaxWatch attributed the high local tax burdens to the state’s “high reliance on local governments to provide public services results in higher local taxes.”
Overall, TaxWatch sees the report as a fact-based tool to let “policymakers and taxpayers alike know if we are winning or losing the race to attract more wealth and opportunities for economic growth,” said Florida TaxWatch President & CEO Dominic M. Calabro. “It also shows us where we need to be more competitive.”
The annual report this year is being circulated ahead of the November election when Floridians will vote on three major tax-related changes to the state Constitution. Among them: Amendment 1, which would increase the homestead exemption for property taxes; Amendment 2, which would permanently extend a cap on yearly increases of non-homestead property taxes; and Amendment 5, which would require a two-thirds supermajority vote of the Legislature to approve any future increases in taxes or fees.
TaxWatch is supporting Amendment 2, and one of the researchers involved in the report made reference to non-homestead property.
“While overall property taxes in Florida are ‘middle-of-the-road,’ the current system puts an inequitable property tax burden on non-homestead property,” said TaxWatch Vice President of Research Kurt Wenner.
One comment
Jim Ley
June 21, 2018 at 5:00 pm
I spent 35 years, 20 of which were in the administration of county government. I was known as being tight with a Penney and pushed back a lot when there was pressure to establish new programs. I left my last county with very healthy surpluses, having lowered property taxes by one third. That is my vitae for purposes of this comment. BTW the reserves have vanished with no plan of replacement, but that is another story.
My comment is this, and I cannot speak to the absolute need for specific local taxation philosophies. But in general, would it not be a better situation that taxes be relatively higher at the local level than at the federal or state level, where administration eats up the revenue in turn sent back to local governments. At least closer to home it should arguably be more accountable. In Florida, it is school property taxes, and dare I say the Legislature’s role in creating the 0latform for those taxes, that drive the lions share of the local tax burden. Again, this may be a better situation, IF the local voters are somehow involved.
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