The property tax measure coming before the legislature beginning June 1 is a draconian formula, built by design: the largest tax break flows to those who already own the most. This policy ploy is a “grab and go” designed for cutting the taxes of commercial property owners and the owners of second and multiple private homes.
In just its first two years, starting in 2028, this measure would cut Leon County’s tax base by 36%, erasing some $84 million. What remains, about $151 million, would not cover what the state forces us to fund: the sheriff, the constitutional officers and our mandates, nearly $159 million. Every other service could vanish, and we still could not cover the state’s mandates.
More precisely, the county commission provides funding for the operations of the courts, Supervisor of Elections, Property Appraiser, Clerk of Courts, Public Defender, State Attorney and Tax Collector.
There is no existing formula in place to determine how the trust fund dollars will be allocated or redistributed to Florida’s 67 counties. No one should trust the fairness, ethics or capacity of this nebulous trust fund. Will red and blue counties be treated and serviced the same? How will counties apply for trust monies? When the trust fund is depleted, how fast will it be rebooted? Where will these monies be managed and administered by whom? Again, don’t trust this so-called trust fund.
This will be a political hot mess.
Make no mistake: there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth as the heat from the orchestrated chaos and famine rises. This is but another version of the mob takeover of the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. Gov. Ron DeSantis is not doing this for Florida. He is doing it for Iowa.
The governor has already eliminated the Black voting district that gave us a voice in Washington. He eliminated diversity programs across our schools and state. He has moved to eliminate your say in your own community. And now he wants to eliminate your services. This governor specializes in discriminating by way of eliminating.
Do understand the proposal also cuts the tax-increase cap on second homes and commercial property in half. The state has written down what counts in your community, and our neighbors did not make the list. Then the constitution itself would limit what survives to a short, state-approved list of “core needs”: public safety, education, infrastructure and natural resources. Let me tell you what is really being eliminated. Look who is left off: veterans services, human services, primary healthcare and our most vulnerable.
Picture what we would lose. It is the deputy who answers your call at 2 a.m., the veterans’ services caseworker who helps you claim what you earned, the library that stays open after the last bell. Property taxes pay for half of it all. Strip those dollars away and you have not “saved” a single home. You have hollowed out the neighborhood around it.
The promise of local government has always been simple: your dollars stay home to pay for your services, decided by people you elect. This measure breaks that promise. Its only safety net is a state trust fund with no assurance it will ever reach a county like ours. We would send our money across the street to the Capitol and wait to see if any comes back.
Yet denying revenue to counties without clear answers on how these lost monies will be replaced is insane. We must resist this oligarchical power play, which will have diabolical impacts upon North Florida beyond a shadow of a doubt.
Bill Proctor represents District 1 on the Leon County Commission.
JOIN THE CONVERSATION
Send letters to the editor (up to 200 words) or Your Turn columns (500-550 words) to letters@tallahassee.com. Please include your address for verification purposes only, and if you send a Your Turn, also include a photo and 1-2 line bio of yourself. You can also submit anonymous Zing!s at Tallahassee.com/Zing. Submissions are published on a space-available basis. All submissions may be edited for content, clarity and length, and may also be published by any part of the USA TODAY NETWORK.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Governor’s property tax reform: What’s really being removed? | Opinion
Reporting by Bill Proctor, Your Turn / Tallahassee Democrat
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
