Property tax relief, the state budget and artificial intelligence are among the key issues awaiting legislators as session begins Tuesday, Jan. 13 in Tallahassee.
For Gov. Ron DeSantis, press conferences and public appearances in past months brought calls for abolishing property tax on primary homes.
“Your personal home, you shouldn’t rent it from the government. You should own it,” DeSantis said during a recent TV appearance. “Even for young families, it’s become very difficult across this country to make ends meet. Wouldn’t it be great if they were able to have homeownership without having the burden of property tax.”
In the House, a Select Committee on Property Insurance spent the past several months mulling property tax relief proposals to pitch to voters in November. Considered to be one of the more comprehensive proposals, House Resolution 201 by Republican state Rep. Kevin Steele eliminates all nonschool property taxes on homesteads. Like most resolutions, the proposal maintains school funding across Florida and locks law enforcement funds at 2024-25 or 2025-26 levels, whichever is higher.
Then there’s a proposal by Republican state Rep. Monique Miller to phase out nonschool property taxes over 10 years. House joint resolution 203 would increase homestead exemptions by $100,000 annually beginning in 2027. Most property owners in Florida would reach near-zero nonschool property taxes by 2030, giving local governments time to adjust their revenue structures.
Then there are House joint resolutions aimed at providing relief to certain groups, like property owners who have multiperil insurance or who are over the age of 65.
All proposals out of the House safeguard school and police funding, but money for a local municipality’s day-to-day operations are at risk of being axed. If approved by the Legislature, the resolutions heading to the ballot in November would need 60% of state voters to say “yes.”
The only piece of legislation pertaining to property taxes, Rep. Jon Albert’s House Bill 215, allows any accrued Save Our Homes benefit, the difference between the assessed value and the just or fair market value of a homestead, held by each spouse to transfer to a new home after marriage, up to the existing $500,000 limitation. Save Our Homes is a constitutional amendment passed to cap annual increases on the assessed value of homestead properties to a maximum of 3% or the change in the Consumer Price Index.
Florida fire chiefs say the House proposals only protect law enforcement and not fire rescue and EMS. In addition, fire chiefs say, costs for new equipment are rising; fire engines alone increased from $550,000 to $1.3 million in the past six years.
State senators haven’t weighed in on the issue of property tax relief. State Rep. Jim Mooney acknowledged the proposals are on the table, but the prospects of the Senate considering them remain somewhat bleak.
In total, Mooney filed five bills for consideration during the 60-day session. One piece of legislation would give local governments authority in adopting ordinances to provide ad valorem tax exemption for certain portions of property used to provide affordable housing. Similar bills by Mooney and state Sen. Ana Maria Rodriguez seek to install a 10% cap on annual rate hikes for Citizens Property Insurance policyholders in areas like the Florida Keys which lack reasonable competition.
Then there’s legislation by Mooney to designate the American flamingo as the official state bird and the Florida scrub-jay as the official state songbird. The bill, which wasn’t taken up the previous two sessions, has seen favorable movement during committee meetings last month.
“I’m definitely encouraged by that,” he said.
The start to session comes following some sparring last year among House leadership and the Senate and DeSantis on issues such as spending. Disagreements over the budget resulted in the session being extended to 105 days.
DeSantis already released his $117 billion budget proposal for the 2026-27 fiscal year. It’s an increase from the legislatively-approved $115.2 billion budget for 2025-26. The governor is seeking increased funding for education and law enforcement. The House and Senate haven’t released their budget proposals.
Municipalities and nonprofits in the Florida Keys have submitted their requests for state funding to advance a wide variety of projects. The Monroe County School District is seeking $5 million in order to develop 150 housing units for teachers and other essential personnel. The district is also requesting $2.5 million to renovate and preserve the historic Bruce Hall and Reynolds School for use by school administrators.
Florida Keys municipalities are also seeking a $20 million appropriation under the Florida Keys Stewardship Act to fund critical water quality initiatives. Monroe County is seeking $2.5 million to acquire vacant, privately owned land in the Keys to reduce legal liability from takings claims related to state-mandated development restrictions on certain lands and support affordable housing development.
Keys AHEC filed a $950,000 request to deliver cost-effective restorative and primary health care for underserved children. Last year, funds were approved by the Legislature but axed by the governor.
Municipalities across the Keys and state also want tweaks to Senate Bill 180, approved last year. Part of the legislation prohibited governments from adopting more restrictive regulations on development after natural disasters. Counties throughout Florida are concerned about the breadth of this impact and are pursuing several possible ways to narrow the preemption’s scope.
