cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/52717966
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.
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.