The Florida House has approved an amendment to the state constitution which, if approved, would substantially lower the property tax bills for homeowners in Jacksonville.
Legislators are trying to force local governments to take a hard look at spending. Many think the best way to do that is cut the revenue the local governments have available.
“What we’re doing is not sustainable,” Rep. Dean Black, R-Jacksonville, told Eye on Jacksonville. Black argued for the amendment on the floor of the House. He said property taxes have “skyrocketed” in the past five years. Florida Tax Watch says property taxes have increased well beyond population and inflation.
The proposed amendment would exempt schools and public safety. Public safety – police and fire services — consumes more than half of Jacksonville’s property tax revenue.
Jacksonville will collect more than $1.2 billion dollars in property taxes this year, with roughly half coming from residential property. However, the tax relief would only be on homestead property and not all residential is homesteaded.
Statewide, the property tax is worth $55 billion to local governments, Tax Watch said.
Duval County relies much less on the property tax than most counties. According to Tax Watch, the property tax is only 16 percent of the local government’s total revenue.
Constitutional amendments require a three-fifths vote in each house to pass. This one was approved 80-30 and will go to the Senate, which has a companion bill.
Black said the last constraint on property tax revenue was enacted in 2008, yet local tax revenue has increased 77 percent since then.
Black hopes the tax relief will cause local governments to do a little introspection.
“We want them to ask what local government really should be doing,” Black said.
Tax Watch said Save Our Homes and the 2008 homestead exemption have shown that when you reduce taxable value on one segment of property owners, the total tax burden is shifted to other property owners.
Because the measure affects only residential property, any increase in the tax rate by local governments would shift to businesses, meaning they would likely raise prices on customers. Businesses already collect sales taxes for the government.
If enacted and approved by the Supreme Court, the amendment would go on the November ballot and take effect January 1st — if 60 percent of voters approve.
