A.G. Gancarski
Florida’s Governor says locals shouldn’t worry about proposals to end property taxes, as out-of-state visitors can pick up the slack.
“If you’re going to tax, I don’t want you taxing Florida residents’ property. Tax the tourists. Tax some of the foreigners,” Gov. Ron DeSantis said.
DeSantis would like a ballot initiative during next year’s General Election to eliminate property taxes altogether. He argues that local budgets have ballooned in recent years and that increased property taxes, which burden homeowners of modest means, have helped that happen.
That said, the Governor acknowledges that not everywhere in Florida has the same recourse to taxing visitors, and to that end he hinted at a two-tier system.
While policymakers “have the ability in some of those areas that draw a lot of people to shift the tax burden away from your own people to people that are not residents of Florida,” DeSantis notes that rural areas don’t have the same latitude that tourist hotspots might.
“I’m willing to work with rural on that because they don’t have the same luxury that a Broward County would have or Miami-Dade would have when you have people that are flooding down there. So the economic realities are just different,” DeSantis said.
The Governor made the comments in Palm Bay at the Ted Moorhead Lagoon House.
Elimination of property taxes would leave holes in current budgets.
As the Florida Policy Institute noted in a criticism of the tax cut concept, property taxes make up roughly a sixth of county and city revenue and more than half of school district revenue. If the taxes were eliminated, it would leave a revenue hole of more than $2,000 for every man, woman and child in the state.
That money would not come from the state, DeSantis said earlier this year.
“Don’t let anyone tell you we’re going to seek to raise state taxes because this body will not pass tax increases, and this Governor will not sign any tax increases,” he said during the State of the State address.
In lieu of state support and property taxes, local option taxes may be an option. These include extra levies on hotels, food and fuel, along with other discretionary sales surtaxes. But state law caps many of these, and some areas are more maxed out than others, complicating this potential workaround.
16 comments
TruthBTold
March 25, 2025 at 12:54 pm
Yes, property tax relief. My property taxes are now HIGHER than my P&I. Ridiculous. At a minimum, increase the Homestead and limit the Millage Rate across the board.
Angela Wises
March 25, 2025 at 1:14 pm
hi
Along for the Ride
March 25, 2025 at 1:19 pm
I don’t think they should get rid of the property taxes all together but increase the homestead. If we have so many Air BnB’s popping up those should be taxed higher than people who live year round
Kiss off CO
March 25, 2025 at 6:55 pm
Thank covid for airbnb overload. No one wants to work. Collect checks from the goverment n stat at home
Along for the Ride
March 25, 2025 at 12:56 pm
If they start increasing taxes on hotels, food and fuel Floridians would also have to pay higher taxes on those items. Int he end the people who make more money aren’t going to be struggling to pay a higher tax at the gas pump or for food or hotels. Its the low in come and paycheck to paycheck people who would be hurt
Peachy
March 25, 2025 at 1:09 pm
My county had an initiative to raise the sales tax a few years ago from 6 to 7%. Never ever vote yourself a tax increase. Well guess what it passed. With rapidly rising property values and the taxes that go with that there was simply no need. My county is primarily Democrat. Evidently they love to pay taxes.
TruthBTold
March 25, 2025 at 1:50 pm
Taxes are Libs form of charity. If it wasn’t for taxes, there would be little charity at all amongst most Libs.
Josh Green
March 25, 2025 at 1:28 pm
Stupidest thing i’ve read all day. Lots of foreigners are actively boycotting travel to the US right now.
La Verdad es La Verdad
March 25, 2025 at 1:49 pm
Not in FL. There are Canadian plates everywhere! many of these Canadians fled Canada in 2021-2022 when Justin Castro when full-blown authoritarian.
Peachy
March 25, 2025 at 2:48 pm
Ha! Ha! Funniest thing I have read all day, foreigners boycotting America. I’m still laughing.
Michael K
March 25, 2025 at 3:35 pm
Several European countries and Canada have issued travel advisories, warning about recent policy changes that affect visitors to the United States. This follows incidents where visitors have been detained and deported because of recent State Department changes and the discretion of border agents to deny visitors access.
May B. Wright
March 25, 2025 at 1:32 pm
DeSantis may–that is, may–be right that sales and other taxes would fill the gap left by eliminating property taxes, and it is a bold move, but there are a lot of caveats. Would this mean all real property taxes go or just residential property taxes? I don’t think I would support eliminating property taxes on the beachfront mega-hotels. What is the likely effect on property values? If would think it would raise property values in Florida by a lot, and then what happens to insurance? It would like even further encourage immigration into Florida from elsewhere in America, and where do we put ’em all?
Michael K
March 25, 2025 at 3:19 pm
Guess what? If you want services – like clean water, sewage, roads, schools, libraries, parks, open space, public safety, local health care services. senior centers, fire departments – to name just a few – you have to pay. It’s ridiculous to expect the services you use to be paid for by someone else. It’s a myth. Name one place where this has happened?
And good luck, for example, convincing the hospitality sector that lodging taxes should pay for these basic services.
Peachy
March 25, 2025 at 4:12 pm
You still have your Tesla Michael K or did you torch it? 🤣
PeterH
March 25, 2025 at 3:31 pm
MAGICAL THINKING ALERT!
KathrynA
March 25, 2025 at 9:30 pm
So agree with Michael–I do appreciate clean water, sewage properly taken care of and roads and schools and well maintained parks and police and sheriff and fire protection. Where do you expect the funding to come from?
And yes, there will be fewer foreigners coming in if Trump keeps threatening and demeaning other countries.