͏Learn how DeSantis’ plan to cut property taxes could affect you
Two weeks after the June 1-3 special legislative session, a non-partisan budget expert will offer a critique June 17 at a lecture near Lake Worth Beach
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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (Florida Channel screenshot)
WONDERING HOW LOCAL officials will pay for essential municipal services if Gov. Ron DeSantis’ proposed property tax cuts go into effect? You can hear an expert’s analysis next month at a country club just west of Lake Worth Beach.
DeSantis has called the Legislature back to Tallahassee on Monday for a special session on his latest proposal to put a massive property tax relief initiative before state voters in November.
Two weeks after the session ends,Esteban Santisof the non-partisanFlorida Policy Institute, a critic of the proposed reforms, will talk about the governor’s plans at a luncheon hosted by the League of Women Voters of Palm Beach County. The league’s “Hot Topic Luncheon” is 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. June 17 at Fountains Country Club, 4476 Fountains Drive in unincorporated Palm Beach County. Tickets are $45 for league members and $50 for nonmembers. The deadline to register is June 10 at lwvpbc.org.
“We chose Dr. Esteban Santis because he brings a strong, data-driven perspective to a complex issue that impacts every Floridian,’’ said Amy Kemp, the league’s president.
“His work at the Florida Policy Institute focuses on nonpartisan research and clear analysis of state policy decisions. He has a track record of translating complicated budget issues into information people can actually understand, which is exactly what our members and the broader community are looking for,’’ she said.
DeSantis’ property tax planfor the November ballot would raise the homestead exemption to $250,000 and require the Legislature to enact a plan to eliminate property taxes entirely for the vast majority of Floridians who own the homes they live in.
The governor next week will ask lawmakers to add an amendment to the ballot that would eventually eliminate property taxes for 92% of those Floridians by raising the homestead exemption to $500,000.
At least 60% in each of the House and Senate would be needed to approve putting a proposed constitutional amendment on the November ballot, and 60% of voters would have to approve it.
The Florida Policy Institute has been critical of property tax reform, which the governor has been pushing for since last year.
“The prospect of eliminating property taxes, whether gradually or suddenly, is a fiscally irresponsible attempt to control how communities spend their money and shifts the cost burden onto Floridians who are already struggling to make ends meet,’’ Santis, the institute’s director of research, wrote in a Miami Heraldop-ed in February.
“The proposal to eliminate property taxes is a crude Band-Aid to an affordability crisis rooted in escalating costs for pretty insurance, rent, child care, groceries, transportation and health care — one that would limit the legitimacy and efficacy of communities,’’ he wrote.
click flyer to register (before June 10)
