Marie Sapirie (Tax Notes): Florida Man Wrestles an Alligator: Property Tax Edition

Although this story won’t involve an alligator or a man kayaking down a public road attached to the tow hitch of a Ford F-150, it features things that only typically happen at scale in Florida — like lawmakers trying to eliminate property taxes in a state with no income tax.

The most important caveat to the slate of bills under consideration in the Florida Legislature is that, while all take aim at property taxes for homesteaded properties, none of them eliminates those taxes. The most expansive proposal still permits municipalities and counties to collect property taxes to fund public schools.

One proposal is House Joint Resolution 203, which systematically removes all property taxes (except school district levies) for homesteaded properties by eliminating $100,000 of assessed value per year beginning in 2028 and continuing at a rate of $100,000 per year until the exemption equals the assessed value of the property or 2037, whichever comes earlier. Many homes in Florida would meet the assessed value well before 2037, which makes the plan only a little less drastic than the immediate repeal proposed in House Joint Resolution 201. House Joint Resolution 203 would also add a new section to the constitution prohibiting local governments from reducing the total funding for services provided by law enforcement, firefighters, and other first responders below the highest funding level in either fiscal 2025-2026 or 2026-2027.

However, with two constitutional amendment proposals en route to the full House and five more waiting in the wings, the ballot is likely to be long. That could cause hanging-chads levels of confusion at the ballot box and an only-in-Florida situation during the campaign season. Florida might become the only state to have election ads imploring voters to vote one way or the other on seven ballot amendment numbers.