[Normal]

We should all be aware that the governor and state house members want to eliminate property taxes for all of us. Texas just came one step closer to being the first.

The Texas House pushed forward a proposal Monday aimed at containing property tax bills by putting tighter restrictions on cities and counties.

The legislation would further limit how much more in property tax revenue cities and counties can collect each year without voter approval. Under state law, that limit sits at 3.5%. The bill would take that limit down to 1%.
Texas House OKs bill limiting city, county property taxes | The Texas Tribune

Florida isn’t exactly sitting by, the governor’s idea to totally eliminate resident taxes has overwhelming support.
Ron DeSantis Updates Florida on 2026 Plan for Property Tax Vote - Newsweek

Which state will get it done first? Florida will rely on businesses and tourism taxes. Texas has taken the more streamlined approach. It should be interesting to see who comes first.

[Bill14564]

TX is going to discover that inflation affects services the Govt purchases as well as the groceries, cable, and lawn mowing services the citizens purchase. A 1% cap on Govt spending sounds great until one of the services cut is the one that you depend on.

FL will have the same issue if they further cap revenue increases.

FL will have a bigger problem if they eliminate property tax altogether. Sumter County alone will need to find an alternate source for $250M or about 50% of the budget.

[Michael G.]

And our law enforcement will suffer.
We complain about speeders now, 466 and 466A will turn into a Autobahn but
we'll be able to go to Costco and return faster. ������

[Normal]

Originally Posted by Michael G.

And our law enforcement will suffer.
We complain about speeders now, 466 and 466A will turn into a Autobahn but
we'll be able to go to Costco and return faster. ������

We allocated 59 million for the Sumter County Sheriff’s office next year. They hired 15:new personnel. Some of this is redundant if you live in Wildwood or Lady Lake who already have their own police forces already. It’s the redundancy that needs to go away.

When this gets on the ballot, and it will, do you really see a majority saying they want to keep paying property taxes?

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

Originally Posted by Normal

We allocated 59 million for the Sumter County Sheriff’s office next year. They hired 11 new personnel. Some of this is redundant if you live in Wildwood or Lady Lake who already have their own police forces already. It’s the redundancy that needs to go away.

When this gets on the ballot, and it will, do you really see a majority saying they want to keep paying property taxes?

All those county police departments are paid for by property taxes. Do away with property taxes, and you have to come up with the money from somewhere else. Tourism taxes are already being paid, you'd have to double those, maybe even triple them. And of course that means fewer people able to afford to dine out, visit, rent hotels or cars in Floridas, go to campgrounds, short-term rent anywhere in the state including AirBnB or Villages Lifestyle Visits, which means less money back into the county coffers, which means less money to pay for all those extra police they need to make up for the loss of the property taxes that did pay for them.

Now, if they want to impose a MODEST income tax - perhaps a 2% tax on gross income over the first $40k or 50k/year, that might work (the first $40/50k wouldn't be subject to that income tax at all, allowing the low and low-middle income folks to keep more of their hard-earned money)

[tophcfa]

Originally Posted by Normal

We should all be aware that the governor and state house members want to eliminate property taxes for all of us.

Wrong, the governor doesn’t want to eliminate property taxes for all of us. Owning a home in Florida and paying property taxes doesn’t qualify someone. They also have to have Florida as their official state of residence. There are many, many, many homeowners in Florida that are part time residents who wouldn’t qualify, but instead would get stuck making up for lost revenue.

[Bill14564]

Originally Posted by Normal

We allocated 59 million for the Sumter County Sheriff’s office next year. They hired 15:new personnel. Some of this is redundant if you live in Wildwood or Lady Lake who already have their own police forces already. It’s the redundancy that needs to go away.

When this gets on the ballot, and it will, do you really see a majority saying they want to keep paying property taxes?

There is no redundancy. There is a Wildwood PD that services city of Wildwood, a County Sheriff that services the county outside the city, and a mutual aid agreement in case it is needed. If the Wildwood PD went away then the Sumter County Sheriff would need to staff up to cover the gap.

As far as property taxes go, there is no "this" to get on the ballot yet. There is a pitch by the Governor that few in the legislature are going to disagree with but it is only a pitch with no details behind it. When a real proposal is made that can be analyzed for its impact on services, then we'll see how many get behind it.

If you go fishing with offers of free stuff you'll get a lot of bites, even when the end result is bad.

[MrFlorida]

I get the impression everyone wants to pay taxes? How about we stop giving away freebies and use that money for public services...

[MX rider]

Originally Posted by OrangeBlossomBaby

All those county police departments are paid for by property taxes. Do away with property taxes, and you have to come up with the money from somewhere else. Tourism taxes are already being paid, you'd have to double those, maybe even triple them. And of course that means fewer people able to afford to dine out, visit, rent hotels or cars in Floridas, go to campgrounds, short-term rent anywhere in the state including AirBnB or Villages Lifestyle Visits, which means less money back into the county coffers, which means less money to pay for all those extra police they need to make up for the loss of the property taxes that did pay for them.

Now, if they want to impose a MODEST income tax - perhaps a 2% tax on gross income over the first $40k or 50k/year, that might work (the first $40/50k wouldn't be subject to that income tax at all, allowing the low and low-middle income folks to keep more of their hard-earned money)

Exactly!
I think this is one of those " be careful what you wish for" situations.
Don't get me wrong, I don't love paying property tax. But the counties, cities and schools depend on tax money. So it's going to have to come from somewhere.

I like our Governor but this idea seems half baked to me. It sounds good on the surface, but in reality it's going to hurt in the long run.

Maybe giving retirees and residents under a certain income level a break on property tax would be worth looking at, not eliminating it.

[kansasr]

Enjoy you 30% sales tax if this passes

[vintageogauge]

One way or another everyone is going to pay what they are paying now if not more. If Florida chooses to tax businesses heavily some will leave and others will raise the cost of their goods or services, county gas and home utilities will have higher taxes, investment properties will continue to pay property taxes so tenants will be getting paying more than homeowners as part of their rent is for the owners property taxes. Either services will be cut drastically or there will be a lot of taxation and or assessments going on. I would vote not to eliminate property taxes however I would like to see a limit on the amount that can be charged going forward.

[blueash]

Right now a significant amount of the tax burden is on those who own real estate. Thus wealthier people. Of course renters end up paying some of that via higher rent as well.

But, consistent with the philosophy that poor people need to pay more so rich people pay less, certain people suggest getting rid of any tax which might hit the wealthy. Of course the money will have to be replaced. The easiest way to do that is to increase the sales tax which it is well known, hits low earners much harder as they spend (thus get sales taxed) on a much higher percent of their earnings than high earners who save thus not exposed to a sales tax.

Tax burden the poor, line the pockets of the wealthy. Trickle up economics with a sledgehammer.

[JGibson]

We don't know the details but I would bet big investors who own so much property especially in Tampa would want to be included in this and for all we know lobbied for it.

[Normal]

Originally Posted by Bill14564

There is no redundancy. There is a Wildwood PD that services city of Wildwood, a County Sheriff that services the county outside the city, and a mutual aid agreement in case it is needed. If the Wildwood PD went away then the Sumter County Sheriff would need to staff up to cover the gap.

As far as property taxes go, there is no "this" to get on the ballot yet. There is a pitch by the Governor that few in the legislature are going to disagree with but it is only a pitch with no details behind it. When a real proposal is made that can be analyzed for its impact on services, then we'll see how many get behind it.

If you go fishing with offers of free stuff you'll get a lot of bites, even when the end result is bad.

But there is taxation redundancy for people who live in areas where the Sheriff’s Department isn’t needed or required. If I pay for police support already in Wildwood, Leesburg or Lady Lake, I don’t need the Sheriffs Department. I already have a city police department. Perhaps a skeleton sized crew for state warrants or corrections is needed, but there is no need to pay for two police departments like municipal residents already do. I guess the unincorporated portions benefit, but Wildwood residents get nothing from the increased spending.

The insult to injury was paying for yet more protection (15 additional positions) in the Sheriff’s Department while we carry much more in taxes paying for our increased police budget here in Wildwood.

[Bill14564]

Originally Posted by Normal

But there is taxation redundancy for people who live in areas where the Sheriff’s Department isn’t needed or required. If I pay for police support already in Wildwood, Leesburg or Lady Lake, I don’t need the Sheriffs Department. I already have a city police department. Perhaps a skeleton sized crew for state warrants or corrections, but there is no need to pay for two police departments. I guess the unincorporated portions benefit, but Wildwood residents get nothing from the increased spending.

Different ways of looking at it.

1. Your tax funds pay little of the Sheriff budget and mine pay less of county funding of Wildwood items. It all looks the same on the tax notice but the money is used differently.

2. You live in the county so you pay for county services whether you use them or not. I live in the county so I pay for school teachers whether I use them or not. We all pay for maintenance of the roads around Webster and Mabel though few of us will ever drive on them. The county services cost less for each of us because we all pay for them. You get better police coverage because your Wildwood taxes fund fewer services leaving more for the Wildwood PD.

3. Disband the Wildwood PD and your county taxes will increase to plus up the Sheriff staffing needed to answer calls in Wildwood.

4. For the increased spending, you actually receive service from two departments while I only receive service from one.

5. If you live in Wildwood then you can be elected to the Wildwood city council and push to disband the PD and lower your taxes - be part of the solution.