No property taxes for Floridians?!
 

Lawmakers in Pennsylvania and Florida are contemplating the elimination of property taxes, igniting a debate on the fairness of taxing owned property. Critics argue that property taxes are essentially a form of rent to the government, with many advocating for their complete abolition. While some propose exemptions for seniors, others argue against special tax breaks for any group, including seniors, due to their perceived financial stability. Alternatives like increasing local sales taxes have been suggested to replace the revenue lost from property taxes. This discussion reflects a broader reevaluation of tax systems in the U.S., focusing on the principles of ownership and taxation.

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I left that platform once the name changed from twitter and I lost my checkmark. Lol. But the reality is…. In a densely populated state like Florida, if policymakers wanted to eliminate property taxes, they would need to raise $43 billion (or $2,015 per capita) to maintain public services currently funded with property tax revenue. (See Figure 1.)[15] Moreover, in states that prohibit different types of taxation (e.g., nine states do not collect personal income taxes, including Florida), designing an equitable and balanced tax system is difficult. In Florida, eliminating property taxes would not only erode local fiscal autonomy — it would also exacerbate the state’s reliance on sales taxes, which disproportionately overburden families and workers with low to moderate income…

Excellent rebuttal to political pandering by the wealthy.

This is the age old dispute/battle/confrontation between individualism or collectivism.

Like do you want the cost of golf cart paths maintained from

1) a toll source?
2) spread amongst everyone for the lowest cost per resident?
3) pay a local tax on gasoline?
4) pay a registration fee per year on every golf cart?
5) flat tax versus graduated proportion?

How did the US get out of the depression? by taxing the rich a very high level, because that was the only source of money, with centralized distribution. .
but the rich weren't in dire straits and needing food and shelter.

Financially, its a source and allocation problem,
where the most expensive method is individual usage, and the easiest is a small amount per person, so anyone can use it without constraints. .

pick your poison, but trying to disrupt lots of everyday conveniences and stability leads to alot of chaos and opportunity to be exploited. .

each contributes to their proportion of the maintenance according to their means.

IMO taxes in Florida no cheaper than any other state, they just have others ways of collecting. Now it you don’t buy anything or have anything taxes are really cheap in Florida, but that means you have nothing?:faint:

Would create a huge can of worms. Florida(by law) can not have an income tax. Only other tax would be a sales tax, Bet it would take an increase to 9-11% to make up the difference. A lot of people would think harder about vacationing in Florida with that amount of sales tax. People move to Florida because of low taxes. Why change something that is not broken?

I’ll be shocked if this happens. Programs depending on revenue will disappear

Although I'm a big fan of our Governor, I'm not a fan of this. Nobody likes to pay property taxes, but we need the money they produce for many essential things.
It's easy to stand up there and say you want to eliminate them.

But I've yet to hear him say how he's going to replace this huge loss of income for our state.

Taxes and insurance are a huge part of my living expense.

Pay cash for your home, but the taxes can still take it from you.

Florida is in a unique position due to its warm weather and beaches. The government is able to keep taxes low on its residents by squeezing it out of tourists and people who own homes here but are residents of other states.

Eliminating property taxes and replacing them with a sales tax puts the majority of the burden on those of us who live here year-round, as snowbirds who return to their states don't pay tax on many items that we do here. So, it would be better for them to buy those items in their own state and bring them back here for the winter.

That can change in a heartbeat. Tourists might opt to go to a different state if sales taxes go up. Sales tax would be the only way to replace property taxes.

Or is this a movement which then FL state will have to backfill for the local counties, and then the state can raise taxes on such businesses as Disney, where the state wants to grab more if Disney's profits. . and some other businesses which have move here from up north. .

somebody is greedy but not sure from where they want to steal

I don't think they even care. I think they just want to push the "look at us, we have no property tax!" narrative to buy votes from the ignorant who don't think things through. And in Florida, there is no shortage of that.

My guess is from past history of the Save Our Homes law, Florida will screw over people who own houses here but are residents of other states by continuing to make them pay property taxes. People will continue to visit Florida even if the sale tax increases; witness the crowds at Disney even though they keep jacking up prices.

There are costs associated with government and there are different levels of government. In Florida we use US , State, County, City, and developer services. Somebody has to pay. If a developer puts in roads, sewers, amenities, he pays for it, but buyers ultimately pay in the form of a bond. Schools are necessary and almost universally those costs are spread amongst all land owners. Administration, Police, Fire, Facility maintenance are also allocated against land owners. Sales taxes in Florida are primarily payable to the state, and is shared by all who buy taxable items. Visitors get to pay their share when they rent, lease, a place to stay. To keep the same standard we have today, the above costs will still need to be paid at some level. If property taxes at the town and county level are lowered or eliminated, then the cost could be covered by a bond or fee or a tax at another level.

Even though the concept of no local property taxes seems wonderful, we will all see it in another form which may be more undesirable. Of course, you could sell and rent, and seemingly pay no property tax.