Jesse Scheckner
No more property taxes in Florida? It could happen, Ben Albritton says.
The Senate President just detailed a plan to study and establish a framework to reduce or eliminate property taxes for Floridians’ primary homes.
At the end of the study, based on its findings, lawmakers would then craft a constitutional amendment for voter consideration during the 2026 General Election.
The plan is part of a tax relief package (SPB 7034) Albritton unveiled this week that also includes a permanent end to sales taxes for clothing and shoes, and a renewal of several annual sales tax holidays, freezes and credits.
Those two provisions won’t require voter approval. But the massive impact of nixing property taxes calls for a broad consensus, Albritton said, and a vote by the people is a must.
Albritton said he agrees with Floridians frustrated with rising property taxes and with those who argue property taxes unjustly charge homeowners in perpetuity for a home they “bought and paid for long ago.”
“The whole concept doesn’t sit right with me either,” he said. “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.”
SPB 7034, among other things, would direct the Office of Economic and Demographic Research to study and establish a plan to reduce or eliminate property taxes on homestead property.
The study would have to include analyses of the potential impact of eliminating property taxes on public services — including education, infrastructure, public safety and emergency services — and how the change would affect the housing market, including fluctuations in homeownership rates and property values.
Consumer behavior regarding home improvements that today result in property tax increases — such as elevating homes in flood-prone areas and property additions, such as a guest house — would also be examined, as would how eliminating property taxes could change that behavior in a way that increases resiliency.
The report would be due Nov. 1, after which the Senate would use the information to craft a constitutional amendment for voter consideration next year.
To prevent any potential conflicts, Albritton said he wants to pause all other property tax-related joint resolutions filed for the 2025 Session that would result in a 2026 ballot question.
“SPB 7034 will lay the foundation for major reform of the property tax system, which could render unnecessary other well-intentioned efforts brought forward,” he said.
This is far from the first time Albritton has contemplated, proposed or supported major property tax changes. As a House member in 2017, he supported legislation (HJR 7105) to increase Florida’s homestead exemption through a voter referendum. The ballot measure ultimately fell 2 percentage points short of the supermajority necessary to pass.
Last year he supported a bill (HJR 7017) to require, with voter approval, Florida’s current $25,000 homestead exemption to be adjusted for inflation annually. The measure passed in the Nov. 5 election with two-thirds of voters approving.
Albritton said he appreciates Gov. Ron DeSantis’ proposal March 31 to provide a one-time tax rebate of about $1,000 per homestead property. The rebate, Albritton said, should “bridge the gap” for financially strained homeowners between now and the next election.
The Governor in recent months has floated tripling Florida’s homestead exemptions through a constitutional amendment and questioned the justification for property taxes. Florida does not have a statewide property tax, but counties municipalities do, and in some areas — Jacksonville, Miami and Tampa among them — homeowners have seen their post-pandemic bills skyrocket.
“Some of these local governments … do a pretty good job, but some of them waste your money, and I’d rather protect you and limit their ability to tax your (property),” DeSantis said during an early February stop in Miami.
“We may be working with the Legislature to see (if there are) some things that we can … put on the ballot so that voters have an opportunity to rein in the cost associated with property taxes and get further protections for Florida taxpayers.”
Last year, Ocala Republican Rep. Ryan Chamberlin carried legislation to study the effects of abolishing property taxes in Florida, which he described as “the most hated tax in America.” Fort Myers Republican Sen. Jonathan Martin filed similar legislation this year with cosponsorship from Senate Democratic Leader Jason Pizzo, who is mulling a run for Governor. That measure (SB 852) does not have a House companion and hasn’t been heard this Session.
Critics of the proposal have argued that eliminating the tax could, among other things, disincentivize local governments from maintaining property values and shift the cost burden to sales taxes, which would disproportionately hurt lower-income residents.
Property taxes are Florida’s second-largest source of per capita revenue after federal transfers, according to an analysis of U.S. Census data by the Urban Institute, a Washington-based think tank.
State lawmakers shot down proposals similar to SPB 7034 decades ago, when U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio and U.S. Rep. Dan Webster served as Speakers in the Florida House.
29 comments
Randall Hebert
April 10, 2025 at 1:48 pm
Best part about it is that you can work from your home and earn from 100-2000 Dollars each week … Start today and have your first payment at the end of the week.
Go ON my ProFILE
Larry Gillis, Director-at-Large, Libertarian Party of Florida
April 10, 2025 at 2:08 pm
I LOVE IT WHEN THESE GUYS “TALK DIRTY” LIKE THIS.
We slave forever to pay off the house and Government still won’t get off our backs. Live Free or Die. (See you at the Barricades)
SuzyQ
April 11, 2025 at 7:54 am
Amen!
tom palmer
April 10, 2025 at 2:52 pm
The idea that we essentially turn into a state of freeloaders certainly requires some deep discussions. If I understood Sen. Albritton’s proposal, this would apply only to homesteads. Does that mean apartments and other commercial property as well as industrial property would end up paying the entire bill for schools and public safety and for voter-approved property tax levies for environmental land purchases, stormwater treatment etc.? I can see this ending up in court because opponents could argue it doesn’t pass the rational nexus test. I wonder if this will also increase pressure to allow local governments to levy higher impact fees to pay for growth-related expenses that are now subsidized with property tax receipts.The list goes on I look forward to the report.
Rich G.
April 12, 2025 at 7:38 am
The only ‘freeloaders” in this scenario is the bloated government on all levels, and those who live off its “benevolence”. Both of which continue to grow out of control and are unsustainable. They need to be reigned in!
tom palmer
April 12, 2025 at 4:34 pm
By freeloaders I mean people who expect government services, but don’t want to pay for them.
GeeWoo
April 10, 2025 at 3:56 pm
How about at least a cap on the millage rate?!? And increase the Homestead deduction too!?!
tom palmer
April 11, 2025 at 11:24 am
Millage rates are already capped
MH/Duuuval
April 10, 2025 at 5:54 pm
While they are at it, MAGAs should end death, too.
PeterH
April 10, 2025 at 7:14 pm
Death and taxes ….. both have been around for quite some time. I can’t imagine sticking tourist with a higher tax to compensate for our property taxes.
SuzyQ
April 11, 2025 at 7:53 am
I can.
JD
April 11, 2025 at 7:04 pm
It’s basically bread at the colesium toss out by the rich. They are the ones to benefit over the working stiff. Sure they will get a few thousand, but the billioniare row over in south Florida will benefit the most and the rest of us will be subsidizing their palaces. Don’t keep falling for it.
Michael K
April 11, 2025 at 8:33 am
It appears to me like the people paying the highest property taxes are the wealthiest people in the most expensive house. At the lower (median) end of the scale, people living in modest homes are not disproportionately hit. The problem is the lack of modest or affordable starter homes. Eliminating taxes on the wealthy always shifts the burden to the poorer people on the ladder
Promoting the elimination of property tax in Florida sounds more like a populist scam and marketing pitch rather than serious legal or fiscal policy.
JD
April 11, 2025 at 7:05 pm
Vote+ this.
red head
April 11, 2025 at 1:34 pm
when are they going to feel the same way about homeowners’ insurance…more crippling than property taxes
SuzyQ
April 11, 2025 at 5:51 pm
No, it’s not, not even close. They are both issues, but my property taxes are 5 times more expensive than the annual aggregate of both my property and flood insurance premiums. Do you actually reside in Florida? Really?
JD
April 11, 2025 at 6:56 pm
I live in SWFL, and my wind and flood are $12K/yr and the taxes are $4K. That’s 3X more and I have never had a claim in 20 years until Ian.
Are you sure you actually live in Florida? Really? As much as you amuse us more than you know, I am unsure at this point you do live here.
SuzyQ
April 12, 2025 at 12:07 pm
JD, how close to the water is your domicile? My flood insurance and supplemental flood insurance premium here in Tampa Bay recently increased from around $600 annually to more than $900 (an approx. 50% increase) but still a fraction of my property taxes, both ad valorem and non-ad valorem?
You seem to speaking on behalf of right folk who live near the water in their elaborate structures. Why do you still require those of us Proletariat, comrade, to subsidize the choices of the wealthy, neo-Marxists among us?
JD
April 12, 2025 at 12:16 pm
Suz-Q, I’m in a modest duplex, not some waterfront mansion I rent out the other side to cover my insurance expenses. I’m not even that close to the water, but the new insurance models don’t care. The whole region is getting hammered, and elevation or luxury has nothing to do with it anymore.
My insurance doubled even before Ian hit. I’ve paid into it for two decades with zero claims until then, and now I’m being penalized like I hosted pool parties during the storm. And after Ian? I couldn’t find anything cheaper than what I already had. If you’re privy to agents and companies handing out miracle rates, by all means share.
You want to make this about class warfare, but these costs are crushing regular folks. So let’s stop pretending this is about “elaborate structures” or “neo-Marxists.” It’s just another case of the working class footing the bill. Again.
SuzyQ
April 12, 2025 at 12:10 pm
JD, how close to the water is your domicile? My flood insurance and supplemental flood insurance premiums here in Tampa Bay recently increased from around $600 annually to more than $900 (an approx. 50% increase) but still a fraction of my property taxes, both ad valorem and non-ad valorem?
You seem to speaking on behalf of rich folk who live near the water in their elaborate structures. Why do you still require those of us Proletariat, comrade, to subsidize the choices of the wealthy, neo-Marxists among us?
JD
April 12, 2025 at 12:17 pm
Suz-Q, I’m in a modest duplex, not some waterfront mansion I rent out the other side to cover my insurance expenses. I’m not even that close to the water, but the new insurance models don’t care. The whole region is getting hammered, and elevation or luxury has nothing to do with it anymore.
My insurance doubled even before Ian hit. I’ve paid into it for two decades with zero claims until then, and now I’m being penalized like I hosted pool parties during the storm. And after Ian? I couldn’t find anything cheaper than what I already had. If you’re privy to agents and companies handing out miracle rates, by all means share.
You want to make this about class warfare, but these costs are crushing regular folks. So let’s stop pretending this is about “elaborate structures” or “neo-Marxists.” It’s just another case of the working class footing the bill. Again
JD
April 11, 2025 at 7:01 pm
So let me get this straight, Ben Albritton wants to “study” eliminating property taxes in Florida. Translation: float a billionaire-friendly idea that sounds great on a bumper sticker and see if voters are distracted enough to fall for it.
Let’s not kid ourselves. If you eliminate property taxes, the main funding source for schools, firefighters, infrastructure, you still need that money. So where does it come from? Higher sales taxes, of course! Because nothing says “freedom” like taxing diapers and groceries while billionaires get a tax break on their oceanfront mansions.
This isn’t tax relief. It’s a tax shift. Off the yachts, onto the groceries.
And let’s talk stability, property taxes are reliable. Sales taxes? Not so much. One economic downturn and suddenly your kid’s school is running a bake sale to buy pencils while the luxury condos keep soaking in their tax-free sunsets.
If this sounds familiar, it’s because it is: strip funding from public services, say it’s inefficient, then hand the pieces to private industry. It’s Florida’s favorite hobby.
No thanks. We don’t need a “study.” We need leaders who can do basic math and don’t confuse tax cuts for the rich with fiscal responsibility. Don’t keep selling Florida to the rich. Trickle down wealth is a myth.
Saul Korn
April 12, 2025 at 11:30 am
Yes sir, you are spot on in every respect. Bravo !
JD
April 12, 2025 at 12:05 pm
Thank you. I try to call out propaganda or lack of critical thinking long term when I see it.
MarvinM
April 12, 2025 at 6:21 pm
Well said.
MAC
April 12, 2025 at 8:43 am
Of course we all want reduced taxes, but we also don’t want reduces resources, like longer lines at DMV, worse roads and bridges, bad teachers in schools because pay is too low, etc. The reality that no one admits is that every time a tax is reduced in a very visible area it usually is added back in some other less obvious way. We have an Admin that wants to take a lot of financial burden off of the Fed and make all the states responsible, such as eliminating the Department of Education and FEMA, as a few examples. That means the states will have to hire more folks and grow offices and money to make up for what the Fed used to provide. So, if we eliminate billions via no property tax and then continue to add state cost for reduced Fed actions, where is that money going to come from? The money we all pay for taxes WON’T go down, it will only become more scattered. No tax should be reduced until we are told the full implications via a good independent analysis (or two), which could show that direct or indirect cost could be worse than the tax being reduced in some cases!
Saul Korn
April 12, 2025 at 11:35 am
Part of if not the major problem is those at those at and near the top of county , state, city governments as well as the schools positions all have pay scales and benefits above and beyond the private sectors !
tom palmer
April 12, 2025 at 4:33 pm
If they go to sales tax, how about removing the cap? If I recall correctly sales taxes apply only to the first $5,000; the rest is tax free.
MarvinM
April 12, 2025 at 6:15 pm
The $5000 limit is only on additional county taxes. That may apply to local/city taxes too, I don’t know.
You still pay the 6% sales tax to the state regardless of price is my understanding.