Drew Dixon
As a special House panel continues to look at ending property taxes across Florida, some members are stressing the need to take a careful, measured approach.
Rep. Judson Sapp, a Green Cove Springs Republican, said he’d spoken with several local leaders in counties like Putnam and Clay, where there is anxiety about the possibility of losing property tax revenue.
That concern is especially high in smaller counties, he added.
“Smaller counties worry they may get left behind. … It comes back to the hand-holding that we’re going to have to do,” he said, noting that many local officials “think it’s all or nothing.”
Republican Rep. Dean Black of Jacksonville agreed. He said officials in Nassau County, for instance, see property taxes as “a profound and indispensable source of revenue.”
As the committee progresses in its research and moves toward any recommendations, he said, “We’ll need to be very thoughtful.”
Those and other comments came Tuesday during the second meeting of the House Select Committee on Property Taxes, when members were given a presentation on the number of local governments in Florida that rely heavily on property tax revenue.
Amy Baker, Coordinator of the Florida Office of Economic & Demographic Research, gave a detailed presentation on the reliance local governments place on property taxes in different counties and municipalities. The panel of more than 30 members will hold meetings until they produce recommendations on ending local property taxes, Gov. Ron DeSantis has suggested, or an alternative plan to provide property owners some relief.
Baker said it’s clear local governments rely heavily on property taxes to fund their functions and services. Fifty-one of 67 counties in Florida see property taxes as their biggest source of revenue, while 181 of 411 municipalities statewide rely on them as their top source of funds. And even in the local governments that don’t see property tax revenues as a top funding source, the levies still contribute substantially to their coffers.
The Florida Constitution prohibits a state property tax but authorizes counties, municipalities, school districts and certain independent special districts to levy them. Accordingly, any change to that model and the ability of local governments to levy property taxes requires a constitutional amendment by statewide referendum or a county-level vote on the matter.
Creating a “case study” out of property tax data from the 2018-19 fiscal year, which wasn’t influenced by either the Great Recession or the COVID pandemic, Baker said Florida counties are relatively consistent in tax revenues, but municipalities are much more diverse.
“The cities are totally different in their functions from one another. Twenty-two cities don’t collect ad valorem (property) taxes at all,” she said.
Baker added that the top priority for many local governments in spending property tax revenue is public safety.
She said her department should do more research on the subject. “We really would like a better understanding as to what causes some to rely on property taxes and some that don’t even use property taxes.”.
Several committee members asked Baker how the panel should proceed. Rep. Dianne Hart, a Tampa Democrat, wondered what local government services and departments would be most impacted if property taxes were eliminated.
But Baker said her analysts didn’t project that deep into the research and that the department wasn’t in a position to make recommendations.
“We wouldn’t be involved in that at all,” she said, suggesting that panel members contact local governments they represent to learn “why your cities evolved the way they do.”
“They might be a good resource,” she said.
___
Jesse Scheckner contributed to this report.
