Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis has railed against property taxes, which fund local governments and the services they provide — law enforcement, fire, EMS, disaster preparation and mosquito control, among many others — equating them to a form of modern-day feudalism where homeowners must “pony up money to the government just for the courtesy of using your own property.”

To end this, DeSantis is pushing Amendment 3, a ballot measure crafted by his Republican statehouse allies that will be put to voters in the midterm election next month.

If passed, Florida “homesteaders,” as permanent residents are called, will see a dramatic increase in an existing property tax exemption.

Any Floridian with a primary residence valued at $250,000 US or less — about 60 per cent of all homesteaders, according to the governor’s office, although that figure has been questioned — would pay nothing and those with a home worth more than that would pay much less than they do now. The measure also calls on the state to eliminate homesteader property taxes entirely over time.

This constitutional amendment requires a 60 per cent supermajority, and at least one recent poll suggests it will easily clear that hurdle.

State economists project such a move will cost about $12 billion US annually, forcing local and county governments that depend on these taxes to make deep cuts, find new revenue elsewhere or both.

That’s where things could get more expensive for the Canadians who own an estimated $60 billion US worth of property in the Sunshine State. DeSantis has explicitly described them as a resource to tap to close expected budget gaps.

  • BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today
    8·
    12 hours ago

    The problem for Floridian homeowners isn’t the property taxes, it’s the insurance. The property taxes are there for a reason - to fund schools, fire, police, etc, and everybody is cool with that, although some are so greedy, they’ll STILL vote to abolish property taxes, even if it means there’s nobody to vacuum up the tweakers and crackheads breaking into your taxless home.

    The homeowners insurance problem is keeping people from buying houses, even if they could afford it. There is already a lot of excess inventory on the market in Florida, and there’s expected to be a LOT more over the next year, so prices aren’t going to be the problem, the thing that going to keep people from buying is the inability to find reasonably priced insurance.

    David Jolly, Democratic candidate for governor has a plan, but the MAGA did their own study, in which they characterize his plan as a tax, and now they’re running ads, claiming that a "recent study’ (without calling their own) called it a tax, and so now they have the rationalization to claim that Jolly wants to raise your taxes. No he doesn’t, he wants to figure out a solution to the serious homeowners insurance problem in Florida, something the MAGAs stubbornly refuse to even acknowledge, no less try to fix it. They just want to shit on the only plan that anyone is proposing.

  • MajorMajormajormajor@lemmy.ca
    28·
    15 hours ago

    Listen, nobody loves paying property taxes, but you know what’s worse? Your house burning down and nobody is there to put it out. There’s a reason everyone pays taxes.

    • Beersux1516@lemmy.zip
      18·
      15 hours ago

      No you don’t get it. If you don’t pay taxes you can pay twice as much when you need emergency services. That way you’ll be super free.

        • Reannlegge@lemmy.ca
          1·
          4 hours ago

          Basic - $9.99 a month, if your house is on fire they bring a garden hose and use your water well.

          Medium - $19.99 a month, they bring a garden hose and a tank of water.

          High - $29.99 a month, they bring more than one hose and person.

          Extreme - $99.99 a month, they bring a truck.

          If you miss a payment you need to resubscribe with a $1000 basic beginner fee.

    • Reannlegge@lemmy.ca
      3·
      14 hours ago

      But but but, you got to think of the insurance companies. If a house burns down how are the insurance companies to bend the home owner further over the barrel?

      Capitalism you have to keep that in mind!

      • Jiggle_Physics@quokk.auEnglish
        1·
        12 hours ago

        It will just be required to hold and when it burns all the way down they will write it off as a total loss, and you will be forced to continue paying

        • Reannlegge@lemmy.ca
          1·
          9 hours ago

          So the insursance companies will still be charging the displaced people who need to break into other places to feed themselves and/or children, they will then take things to sell so that they can pay for that insurance because employement will be hard to keep or get without a perminate address. Than those people will need to pay for the replacements of stolen items, insurance does not cover 100% of stuff and their insurance raits will go up!

          Capitalism, you got to remember them rich people need to get richer!

    • TachyonTele_Esq@piefed.socialEnglish
      4·
      11 hours ago

      Not really, no. This post is about how there are large areas of Canadians living in florida. Vast swaths of them. Maple Leaf flags down every street in some places.

      It’s pretty funny.