Florida lawmakers have sent a major property tax proposal to voters. But there are questions about how far the plan could actually go.
Here’s what’s sure: if at least 60% of voters approve the measure in November, it would significantly expand property tax exemptions.
The exemption would cover $250,000 of a primary home's value by 2028, though homeowners would still have to pay the portion of the tax that goes to schools. (The other portion goes to local government services, which critics warn could be impacted by the measure.)
But here’s where questions start to emerge: “It requires the Legislature to adopt a schedule to make homesteads fully exempt,” Gov. Ron DeSantis wrote on social media. “The $250k is the initial salvo.”
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The summary for the ballot says something similar, describing how it “requires, through general law, a schedule for full elimination.”
But the language in the actual proposal isn’t as direct. The proposed constitutional language refers to a legislatively-set procedure for counties and municipalities to increase exemptions “up to all remaining assessed valuation.”
Questioned by the Tampa Bay Times during last week’s special session, Sen. Bryan Avila, R-Miami, said the language only called on lawmakers to create a tax reduction process local governments could choose to use.
“If they wanted to go beyond the $250,000, they would be able to,” said Avila, who sponsored the Senate version of the proposal.
If the Legislature wanted to increase exemptions, he said they’d have to put another measure on the ballot for voters.
The House sponsor, though, indicated it could “theoretically” allow lawmakers alone to increase exemptions.
“I would suggest that that's probably not going to happen, but again, we're in conjecture land," said Rep. Toby Overdorf, R-Palm City. "We're getting into the parts of the discussion that are going to happen between now and November of what could happen with this constitutional amendment. There'll be some rulings on it.”
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Sen. Brian Nathan, D-Tampa, said the Legislature should’ve figured all that out before passing the proposal.
“This is going to generate some confusion,” he said. "If we're going to seriously and meaningfully provide relief through property tax reform, whatever that looks like, this isn't it."
The proposal passed through a two-day special session, days after Gov. Ron DeSantis called for it.
But Florida TaxWatch encouraged lawmakers to take their time, saying a tax commission should review and recommend a plan.
"Your confusion is understandable, and you just think about voters trying to go to the ballot and figure all this out,” said Jeff Kottkamp, president and CEO of the organization. “That's one of the reasons we really were hoping that they would take their time."
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This story was produced by WUSF as part of a statewide journalism initiative funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
