Jesse Scheckner
Every elected official in South Miami wants to ensure that Florida seniors can enjoy their homes without fear of losing them.
That’s the message they sent this week.
Mayor Javier Fernández and his four City Commission colleagues voted unanimously for a resolution urging lawmakers to place a question on the 2026 statewide ballot to end property taxes for residents 65 and older.
The only requirement is that those exempted must have lived in their homes for at least 25 years.
“Florida’s Governor and members of the Florida Legislature have expressed a desire to implement property tax reform, including the possible elimination of the levy of any ad valorem taxes on real property,” said the measure, which Fernández sponsored.
“The City Commission believes that such targeted relief will provide meaningful benefits to long-term owners without jeopardizing the quality or efficacy of municipal services.”
The resolution, which passed Thursday, identifies the House Select Committee on Property Taxes as the body to best consider the city’s request. Members of the 37-seat panel first convened in May to consider five proposals Speaker Daniel Perez proposed as a “springboard” for talks on delivering relief to homeowners.
Those serving in both chambers of the Legislature have introduced measures in recent years to eliminate property taxes for all Sunshine State residents and replace them with an alternative revenue source.
Meanwhile, Gov. Ron DeSantis has been somewhat unsteady on the issue. In February, he floated tripling homestead exemptions, prompting then-Sen. Blaise Ingoglia — whom DeSantis later tapped for Chief Financial Officer — to announce that he was filing legislation that would enable voters to do just that.
The bill ultimately died without a hearing.
Then, in June, the Governor vetoed funding for a study that would determine the potential impacts of nixing property taxes — a step many would consider appropriate for such a significant change.
Property taxes are a local-only levy, set by counties, municipalities and special taxing districts. But while localities can lower their millage rates to zero, effectively ending all property taxes within their jurisdiction, Article VII, Section 2 of the Florida Constitution mandates that property taxation must be “at a uniform rate within each taxing unit.”
Essentially, a city must apply the same millage rate to all taxable property within its bounds and give special discounts to seniors while others pay full freight unless the state Constitution is amended to provide for an exception.
Voters in 2006 and 2012 approved constitutional amendments expanding homestead exemptions for low-income seniors. Legislation to raise the exemption to $250,000, most recently sponsored by Doral Republican Sen. Ana Maria Rodriguez and Hialeah Republican Rep. David Borrero, has failed for a decade.
“While the Governor has struggled to articulate a clear plan for property tax reform, many cities across Florida have been doing the hard work preserving services in the face of rapidly escalating labor and capital costs,” Fernández, a Democratic former state lawmaker, said in a statement.
“South Miami’s reform proposal would prioritize tax relief for Floridians first in stark contrast to the Governor’s ’26 budget, which prioritized tax cuts for corporations instead of seniors.”
