Whether you live here or are just thinking about moving to Florida, here’s an interesting bit of news: Florida State Senator Jonathan Martin, representing Fort Myers, has introduced a bill (SB 852) aimed at exploring the feasibility of eliminating property taxes in the state.
Filed on Tuesday, February 18, 2025, the proposal seeks to commission a comprehensive study to assess the potential impacts of such a dynamic shift in Florida’s taxation system.
The bill directs the Legislature’s Office of Economic and Demographic Research to conduct an in-depth analysis focusing on several critical areas:
- Public Services Impact: Evaluating how the removal of property taxes would affect essential public services, including education, infrastructure, and emergency services.
- Alternative Revenue Streams: Investigating the viability of replacing property tax revenues through budget reductions, sales-based consumption taxes, and locally determined consumption taxes authorized by the Legislature.
- Business Climate Assessment: Determining whether a shift to consumption-based taxes would enhance Florida’s attractiveness to businesses compared to other states.
Governor Ron DeSantis has publicly expressed support for the initiative to abolish property taxes. In a recent social media post, he acknowledged the local nature of property taxes and suggested that a constitutional amendment would be necessary to effect such a change. DeSantis stated, “Property taxes are local, not state. So we’d need to do a constitutional amendment (requires 60% of voters to approve) to eliminate them (which I would support) or even to reform/lower them.”
Property taxes have long been a cornerstone of funding for Florida’s public services, notably schools, police and fire departments, libraries, and public parks. The potential elimination of this revenue source raises concerns about how to sustain these critical services. Dr. Esteban Santis, a policy analyst at the Florida Policy Institute, cautioned, “Technically speaking, you can do it, but the questions are, what are going to be the repercussions?” He further elaborated on the challenges of replacing property tax revenue with consumption taxes, suggesting that such a shift could lead to increased costs for consumers.
As of 2025, Florida’s property tax system is characterized by several key features:
- Homestead Exemption: Homeowners can reduce the taxable value of their primary residence by up to $50,000. This includes an initial $25,000 exemption applicable to all property taxes and an additional $25,000 exemption for properties valued over $50,000, applicable to non-school taxes.
- Senior Exemption: Residents aged 65 and older may qualify for an additional exemption of up to $50,000, subject to local government ordinances and income thresholds.
- Property Tax Rates: Florida’s average effective property tax rate stands at approximately 0.83%, slightly below the national average of 0.90%.
The proposal has elicited varied reactions from local government officials and school boards. While some see potential benefits in reducing the tax burden on homeowners, others express concern over the financial void that eliminating property taxes could create. The apprehension centers around the challenge of maintaining funding for essential services without the steady revenue that property taxes provide.
The Florida legislative session is set to commence on March 4, 2025. Senator Martin’s bill will undergo committee reviews, debates, and potential amendments. If the bill gains legislative approval, the proposed study would provide a detailed framework for the possible elimination of property taxes, including recommendations for alternative revenue mechanisms.
The concept of eliminating property taxes is not without precedent. In November 2024, North Dakota voters faced a similar proposal to abolish property taxes. The measure was ultimately defeated, with 63.5% voting against it, primarily due to concerns about funding essential services.
The initiative to explore eliminating property taxes in Florida marks a potentially pivotal moment in the state’s fiscal policy discourse. As the legislative session approaches, stakeholders, including policymakers, public service administrators, and residents, will closely monitor the developments. The forthcoming debates and analyses will be crucial in determining the feasibility and desirability of such a transformative change to Florida’s taxation and public funding landscape
The current property tax system was strongly influenced by the Henry George Theorem, which promoted a “Single Tax”, a 100% tax on the rental value of land, not including “improvements” such as buildings, roads, utilities, etc. (Whether these developments “improve” the land is a matter of perspective.)
True to this Theorem, property taxes on land have predictably encouraged rather than discouraged the gross overdevelopment of land, with little to no regard for the environmental impact of high-density construction, not only on the land but on human society’s connection to our sources of living water, fresh food, fragrant air, beauty, and our direct relationship with the immense diversity of other beings on our planet.
The vision portrayed by Anastasia and Vladimir Megré in the Ringing Cedars book series makes clear that our beautiful planet’s environment needs us to return to the land, allowing every couple to reside unmolested on a minimum of 2.5 acres (ideally 5 acres), to grow a living perimeter fence of trees and hedges and at least 300 species of flowers, plants and trees to sustain their lives and on which to birth children, to pass on this family estate to future generations in perpetuity, and to come to their final rest on this family estate. This plan would regenerate both the environment and the economy of Florida into the paradise that is promised by our state’s name.
What is needed is not the complete elimination of all property taxes, but a shift to a tax on the the environmental impact of developed properties. Instead of local governments having a one-time “impact fee” on new development, followed by perpetual property taxes on the market value of that land (whether ever resold or not), I propose an ongoing environmental impact tax on all real estate in Florida. Since the environmental impact of a family estate of at least 2.5 acres with a modest house and small barn/workshop is positive rather than negative, this plan would replace annual property taxes with annual environmental impact taxes.
Contrast this with the environmental impact of gasoline stations, as one of many environmentally high-impact examples. Discharges of toxic gasoline and diesel have left the soil of thousands of gas station brownfield sites waiting, often for 20 to 40 years, until the state has enough money in the budget to remediate the damaged soil.
Senator Martin’s bill proposes an analysis of economic impact scenarios from complete elimination of property taxes. If this is done, I recommend the consultants who work on this project use “True Cost Accounting” methods to do so. See TCA2F dot ORG.