Jacob Ogles
An amendment to the House’s budget proposal puts pressure on local governments to quickly cut property taxes. The primary mechanism for that is by cutting taxes on construction of affordable housing throughout the state.
House leaders said they will give governments flexibility in use of other revenues, but must expand tax exemptions many local officials have been reluctant to embrace.
“We are telling them to give relief, we are instructing them to give relief,” said Rep. Lawrence McClure, a Dover Republican and House Budget Committee Chair. “It is not an option.”
The language in a tax relief package (HB 7033) published Monday would prohibit county and municipal governments from opting out of certain tax exemptions implemented with the Live Local Act in 2023.
Under the proposed legislation all cities and counties must provide a “missing middle” exemption, something a majority of local government opted against after the statewide law pushing for affordable housing went into effect in 2023.
The amendment proposed by the House would expand property tax exemptions on land if it houses more than 70 units of affordable housing to residents meeting the “extremely-low-,” “very-low-,“ “low-“ or “moderate-“ income limits specified in state statute.
Exemptions also apply if units are built on land leased from the state, and where an agreement has been made to provide affordable housing for at least 60 years.
The legislation also would require local governments to prioritize processing permit applications for the housing.
Estimates are not yet available as to the fiscal impact of counties and cities from expanding property tax exemptions, though modifications to improvements on publicly leased land already supported in the House Ways and Means Committee would have a $1.1 million statewide impact alone.
Still the House has maintained any type of major reform in property taxes would likely need to be addressed in an amendment to the Florida Constitution, McClure said. That would require voter approval on a statewide ballot in 2026 to cut property taxes.
That means the House still won’t entertain property tax refunds as proposed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, at least not as part of this year’s budget.
Meanwhile, the House remains intent on an across-the-board sales tax cut, rather than tax holidays favored by the Governor and leaders in the Florida Senate.
The clash in philosophies remains in play as the Legislative Session enters its final two weeks, raising the question if lawmakers can finalize a budget before the scheduled Sine Die. Sen. Ed Hooper, the Clearwater Republican chairing the Senate Appropriations Committee, reportedly said disagreements remain between the House and Senate on top-level spending.
“I assume we will not be out of town by May 2,” Hooper told POLITICO’s Gary Fineout.
But McClure remained optimistic.
“I can understand the perspective of saying, ‘Look we’ve got a lot of ground to cover,’ but we always have a lot of ground to cover,” McClure said. “The divide between us is not so great it couldn’t be done.”
He added, “If we continue to work together, we have a real shot at getting out mostly on time.”
