The Florida House has unveiled a list of proposals aimed at reducing the state's property tax.
Any reductions would ultimately have to be approved by voters during the 2026 election, as House Speaker Daniel Perez emphasized in a Thursday memo.
"What has been lost in this debate has been the fact that the ultimate decision on what should happen with property taxes belongs not with elected officials but with the people of Florida," he said. "If we have faith in the voters to elect us, we should not be afraid to let them be a part of the conversation about the taxes they pay."
The property tax funds local governments, which have expressed concerns about their ability to provide critical services if cuts are made.
The proposals have "two distinct components," Perez said.
Affected local governments would be not be able to reduce law enforcement funding, and school property taxes would be exempt from reductions.
School taxes make up just under 40 percent of Floridians’ property tax bill on average, according to a 2022 analysis by Florida TaxWatch.
Here's the list of seven proposed resolutions, which must be approved by three-fifths of the Legislature before appearing on the ballot:
- HJR 201 — Eliminates non-school homestead property taxes.
- HJR 203 — Phases out non-school homestead property taxes over a decade.
- HJR 205 — Exempts residents 65 and older from paying non-school homestead property taxes.
- HJR 207 — Creates a non-school property tax homestead exemption equal to 25% of the assessed value of the house.
- HJR 209 — Creates a $100,000 non-school homestead tax exemption for residences with property insurance.
- HJR 211 — Eliminates the cap on portability, which lets homeowners transfer tax savings from their previous place to a new one. This means a homeowner can transfer their Save Our Homes tax cap benefit to a new home.
- HJR 213 — Limits how much the assessed non-school property tax can grow for a home, from 3% every three years instead of 3% annually for homestead property, and 15% over three years for non-homestead property instead of 10% per year.
"It is our position that the House does not need to limit itself in presenting one single plan, but instead allow the people of Florida the ability to choose some, all, or none of the proposals on the 2026 ballot," Perez said.
The House is also pitching a bill, HB 215, which would make various changes including requiring a supermajority vote from a local government to pass a property tax increase and allowing newly married couples to combine their Save our Homes tax cap benefits.
Florida Senate President Ben Albritton and Gov. Ron DeSantis hadn't weighed in on the House proposals as of Thursday evening.
"The Senate is reviewing the proposals put forward by the House this afternoon," said Senate spokeswoman Katie Betta in an email. "I don’t have an additional comment from the President at this time."
DeSantis has loudly called in recent months for the homestead property tax to be eliminated.
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This story was produced by WUSF as part of a statewide journalism initiative funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
