Gov. Ron DeSantis’ plan to slash property taxes on Floridians’ primary homes could threaten the solvency of some cities, towns and villages in Palm Beach County, Property Tax Appraiser Dorothy Jacks told the county commission on Tuesday, June 2.
“If you are a Haverhill, with an older maturing inventory of residential homes, the change could wipe out your tax roll,” Jacks said during a special presentation. “A lot of these communities — Palm Springs, Lantana, Hypoluxo — are going to be significantly impacted.”
DeSantis has been calling for property tax relief for owner-occupied homes over the past year. He has argued that county and local governments have adopted inflated budgets, taking advantage of ever-increasing property values.
Florida currently exempts $50,000 of a homesteaded property’s value from being used to calculate its annual property tax bill. It also caps how much a primary residence’s assessed value for tax purposes can grow each year to roughly 3%. DeSantis proposes expanding the $50,000 exemption to $150,000 by Jan 1, 2027, then to $250,000 the following year.
Study finds 85 Florida cities that will struggle to afford police protection
A Florida League of Cities analysis released on May 28 also found smaller cities throughout the state would be affected substantially. It identified 85 cities that would not be able to fund public safety at the same level, even if they eliminated every other service funded by property taxes.
In a letter to legislative leaders, the League said the proposal would fundamentally alter the financial foundation upon which Florida’s cities operate and that no comprehensive fiscal analysis has been completed.
It called the proposal a generational change to Florida’s system of local government finance without knowing its true impact on public safety, infrastructure investments, quality-of-life services or the long-term fiscal health of individual communities.
“A constitutional change of this scale should be driven by data, analysis, and careful planning — not by estimates or assumptions,” the league said.
County Commissioner Maria Marino noted June 2 that basic services involving libraries and lifeguard stations would be drastically cut.
“If you are out there listening to this meeting, do your homework,” she implored county residents during the meeting, “and make sure you realize what approval of this referendum would mean. There might not be lifeguards on the beaches or county parks open for your use.”
Marino also noted that non-homesteaded properties will pay considerably more in property taxes and those property owners won’t be able to vote in November.
Bigger cities in better position to absorb property tax cut, appraiser says
Jacks prepared a spreadsheet showing the loss of revenue in 2027 of the $150,000 exemptions and then the impact of the $250,000 exemption in 2028. She also included data on the effects of reducing the cap on nonhomesteaded property from 10% to 5%.
Countywide, there would be a loss of nearly $400 million in 2028 should voters approve the referendum in November.
Among the county’s 39 municipalities, there are nearly 370,000 homesteaded properties. The five municipalities with the highest potential revenue loss in 2028 when the $250,000 exemption would be extended to homesteaded property are:
Jacks emphasized, though, that despite the higher numbers for these municipalities, they might be able to absorb the impacts of the higher exemptions with greater agility because of their higher tax bases.
For example, Lake Clarke Shores, under the current law, sustains a revenue loss of $380,000. And under the proposed change, that figure would more than quadruple to $1.8 million. Other towns that would experience similar percentage increases include:
The push to cut property taxes in Florida could deliver significant relief to homeowners, but the message that delivered throughout the state by local officials is the same: It will come at the expense of services that residents have come to expect.
In addition, critics of the plan argue that it will shift much of the costs of funding government onto renters and businesses. Marino noted that the progress made in addressing affordable housing would be threatened.
Mike Diamond is a journalist at The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. He covers Palm Beach County government. You can reach him at mdiamond@pbpost.com. Help support local journalism. Subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: DeSantis plan could ‘wipe out’ small city tax rolls, appraiser says
Reporting by Mike Diamond, Palm Beach Post / Palm Beach Post
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
