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Please contact the House Ways and Means Committee members and tell them to VOTE NO on WMC1-2024, WMC2-2024 and WMC3-2024.
In addition to contacting House members, NOW is the optimal time to contact your Senator to alert them of these bills in the House and ask them to oppose any efforts to file similar legislation in the Senate.
While the bills intend to provide tax relief, the reduction will likely result in unintended consequences for local taxpayers and cities.
Tax Shift, Not a Tax Cut:
- These bills aren’t a tax cut; they are a tax shift away from homestead property owners to businesses and renters.
- These bills expose small businesses to bigger tax hikes later, meaning business owners will shoulder a larger share of the tax burden.
- An additional homestead exemption will create even more inequities in the property tax system that already picks winners and losers.
- These bills will hurt would-be first-time homeowners by forcing renters to pay a greater share of their income toward rent, reducing or eliminating their ability to save money for homeownership.
Reducing Resources for Critical Services:
- These bills will reduce general revenue funds, taking resources away from police and firefighters.
Creating Uncertainty:
- The real estate market in Florida is cyclical, and a downturn could be on the horizon.
- Tying exemption to the Consumer Price Index creates uncertainty year to year for local governments and residents alike.
If the State wishes to provide relief, the State of Florida should consider a one-time property tax relief effort to homestead property owners out of the State’s revenue surplus. Other states use their surplus funds to offset the loss in general revenue to their municipalities.
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