As Gov. Ron DeSantis prepares for his final year in the governor’s mansion, it appears he wants to go out on the shoulders of his constituents and lawmakers, carried off the field victorious, heroic ― think Vince Lombardi.
There might even be statues built in his honor, if he’s able to pull off his latest push to eliminate local property taxes.
One can already hear the calculator keys wildly tapping as homeowners in the Sunshine State figure out what their mortgage payments might be without a property tax amount attached. Shoot, I might even be able to pay off my mortgage earlier than expected.
While the populist move might appeal to many (myself included), there’s that nagging voice of my mother ringing in my head: “If something sounds too good to be true, then it probably is.”
What would wiping out Florida property tax mean?
Oh yeah. Eliminating property taxes means $55 billion a year less in the state’s coffers. Yeah, that was billion with a “b.” OK, in reality eliminating property taxes on residences with a homestead exemption would likely eliminate about 35% of the $55 billion local governments took in last year, not all of it. Still, that’s roughly $20 billion used by local governments to pay for things like schools, police, utilities, infrastructure maintenance, etc.
So, just how does the governor mean to replace this proposed lost income? Well, that’s the $20 billion question, isn’t it? And so far, answers have been scant.
My colleague Larry Reisman at TC Palm wrote, he hasn’t “heard anyone else supporting property tax elimination answer that question.” And my buddy Doug Lyons with the Palm Beach Post wrote: “The governor may be a savant when it comes to asserting political power, but his arithmetic needs some work.”
There are already a number of tax-reduction bills, eight so far to be exact, in the works for the next legislative session that begins in January but it’s doubtful DeSantis would find them sufficient enough.
DeSantis hasn’t offered many details but said tourists who visit the state can help pay for the shortfall. He has also been warning local governments about wasteful spending.
“So people say, ‘Well, where are you going to get the money?’ Well, how come nobody asks, ‘Why can’t government spend less money?’” DeSantis said late last month to a group in West Palm Beach.
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Contact Torres at jtorres@floridatoday.com. You can follow him on X @johnalbertorres
Multimedia editor Rob Landers contributed to this report.
