ORLANDO, Fla. — Gov. Ron DeSantis is paring down his promises to eliminate property tax proposals as he faces rising criticism from within his own party.
Monday, the governor proposed cutting $5 billion in property taxes from homesteaded properties only. It would amount to approximately $1,000 per household.
The focus, he said, was on the middle-class homeowners who are facing rising costs of living.
“You got to just keep writing a check to the government just for the privilege of using your own property, and that’s an anomaly,” DeSantis said. “That’s not the way good tax policy should be. It certainly undercuts the idea of private property.”
However, the proposal has been dismissed by some Republicans for being a handout, while others aired concerns it would slash funding for police, fire and schools throughout the state.
DeSantis brushed aside those concerns, saying the government had enough surplus to make up the difference.
“It’s something that would be really, really meaningful,” he said.
Some state lawmakers are backing a rival proposal to cut sales taxes by $5 billion instead, which would lower the tax rate from 6% to 5.25%.
Esteban Santis, a tax analyst with the Florida Policy Institute, said both plans have drawbacks. DeSantis’ proposal would just be for Floridians, but it wouldn’t include renters, he noted, while the sales tax cut would help low-income Floridians the most but would also cut taxes for tourists.
“I can say that eliminating property taxes altogether will have such a significant fiscal impact that I think just looking at the sales taxes would be more beneficial,” he said.
However, he warned Florida has not come up with a long-term plan to pay for either of the proposals.
“State economists, they’re already thinking about deficits to three fiscal years down the line,” he said “So if we tap into the money that we have today, because everything looks like it can be balanced, the question is, are you going to be able to balance the budget in two to three fiscal years?”
Any property tax proposal that passes through the legislature will need to get 60% support on a ballot referendum.
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