By Paul Waldmiller
Did you know that there is talk in the Florida Legislature to eliminate property taxes?
Florida Representative Ryan Chamberlin(R) has proposed a bill, HB 1371 which would eliminate all Florida state property taxes. There would however be a trade-off of sorts. Part of the proposal to eliminate property taxes would mean an additional tax to recoup tax funds for the state’s treasury.
The removal of property taxes would most likely result in a “consumption tax”, or state tax. There is no proposal however of how much, or what percentage of tax that would be.
The current bill exempts $100,000 of the value of real property from being taxed. As well, those over the age of 65 would be qualified to be exempted from property tax up to $250,000.
According to Boynton Beach Representative Joe Casello(D), who voted no on the bill, Florida homeowners aren’t losing their homes so much to owed property taxes, as they are because of very high home owner insurance costs.
There is much more that needs to be hammered out in both the Florida House Ways and Means Committee as well as the full Florida House before the proposed bill could be sent to the Florida Senate for approval.