WPTV is investigating how ending property taxes in Florida could impact residents’ wallets. Reporter Matt Sczesny delved into the numbers to better understand the potential financial effects.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis sparked the movement against property taxes during a press conference in Miami-Dade County last month.
“Ultimately, you buy a house and own the land, and you have to pay the government for the courtesy of just exercising your property rights, not really a good thing,” DeSantis stated.
In response, fellow Republicans in Tallahassee proposed bills aimed at reducing or even eliminating property taxes altogether. But what about the resulting loss of revenue?
“You’ll need to make up for that lost income somewhere else, and that often means relying on more regressive taxes, like sales taxes,” said State Senator Lori Berman, D-Boca Raton.
She explained to WPTV that local governments would have to compensate for the revenue shortfall by increasing taxes on purchases.
“Property taxes are crucial for maintaining fiscal autonomy and home rule power,” said Esteban Santis from the Florida Policy Institute, a nonpartisan organization. “They help fund essential services like schools, public safety, police, fire rescue, public libraries, parks, and infrastructure.”
The Florida Policy Institute conducted a study on the effects of eliminating property taxes and found that Florida’s local governments and schools would need to find an additional $43 billion. The report suggested that this could be covered by raising the state sales tax from 6% to 12%, making it the highest in the nation and significantly increasing the cost of most goods and services.
“In our report, we took a conservative approach, assuming constant demand,” Santis explained. “But if prices rise, demand could decrease, and it raises the question of how to offset the revenue loss.”
In other words, even if property taxes are eliminated, Floridians might still face higher costs overall.
Source: WPTV5 News
