Florida weighs ditching property taxes and sticking Canadians with the bill
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/52717966
Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis has railed against property taxes, which fund local governments and the services they provide — law enforcement, fire, EMS, disaster preparation and mosquito control, among many others — equating them to a form of modern-day feudalism where homeowners must "pony up money to the government just for the courtesy of using your own property."
To end this, DeSantis is pushing Amendment 3, a ballot measure crafted by his Republican statehouse allies that will be put to voters in the midterm election next month.
If passed, Florida "homesteaders," as permanent residents are called, will see a dramatic increase in an existing property tax exemption.
Any Floridian with a primary residence valued at $250,000 US or less — about 60 per cent of all homesteaders, according to the governor's office, although that figure has been questioned — would pay nothing and those with a home worth more than that would pay much less than they do now. The measure also calls on the state to eliminate homesteader property taxes entirely over time.
This constitutional amendment requires a 60 per cent supermajority, and at least one recent poll suggests it will easily clear that hurdle.
State economists project such a move will cost about $12 billion US annually, forcing local and county governments that depend on these taxes to make deep cuts, find new revenue elsewhere or both.
That's where things could get more expensive for the Canadians who own an estimated $60 billion US worth of property in the Sunshine State. DeSantis has explicitly described them as a resource to tap to close expected budget gaps.
19 replies
IIRC Canada actually does have some similar taxes targeting foreign homeownership, though the reasons driving it are a lot more substantial than in Florida: you had people out of China who had purchased a bunch of Chinese real estate noticing the bubble and shifting out, buying up property in Canada or the US instead.
I'd guess that it probably impacts Americans, as I believe it targets all foreigners.
searches
https://www.taxesforexpats.com/country-guides/canada/non-resident-property-tax-canada.html
Sounds like it.
Floridian here....
This plan is just wrong. If lawmakers wanted to help normal folks, they would do the homestead exemption for Primary Residences only and tie that plan with an increase in taxes for all homes that are not a primary residence.... Thus would help normal folks and place the burden on those with multiple homes and companies that own large number of homes used as rentals.
Higher taxes on those would encourage the sale of homes back to normal folks who need good housing.
Doesn't the words "permanent" and "homesteader" mean primary residents? What am I missing?
Sure, but a permanent resident may have more than one residence, and the law didn't restrict the benefit to one property per person.
Oh like someone owns 4 Florida properties gets the benefit for all their properties?
Right.
As written, the law is a huge tax break for people or corporations with multiple properties.
This is sort of a funny article. They want to focus on making it some kind of attack on Canada but the principle itself--shifting the tax base from ordinary homeowners to absentee or seasonal property owners makes some sense. Although if I were a Floridian I would have some concern whether there is enough revenue to make up the shortfall.
Louisiana has the highest GDP per capita. This is usually a surprise because the State seems so poor. The reason is that the legislature can wave property tax for industry. What that means is that all that money flows into the pockets of big oil while their schools, roads, and hospitals suffer.
I'd also consider the wisdom of gouging your main industry at a time when tourism is already on the decline. Fuck Canada is a pretty weird hospitality messaging.
Be careful what you wish for Florida.
I found that incredibly shocking, because I was pretty sure they were below average. I looked it up and after checking 5 sources, I can't find even a single one that put them in the top 10, let alone the top slot
Can you provide a source for your fact? If not, it looks like you were mistaken
A better example is Ireland, high GDP due to low corporate taxes, but all of the money leaves the country.
Another example is Delaware, looks great on paper but it's a shit hole.
They definitely have a relatively high income inequality. It looks like their nominal GDP per capita is below the national average, though.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_and_territories_by_GDP
Just sharing info for discussion, in case that's helpful. I think we're on the same side of this issue.
These Canadian homeowners basically live there half the year. A lot of them have been living there for decades.
All this Trump shit has already caused many of these Canadians to fuck off. If this passes, that'll be the end of it.
They won't have any Canadians to make-up for the loss revenue.
I mean the cultural stuff seems like a bigger issue than a tax increase on people who own multiple homes.
Yeah, I’m having a hard time being upset about this. Of course, it depends on the FL and municipal governments having correctly done the revenue math and being responsible enough to handle the transition and long-term spending well enough, which are probably pretty tall orders for them.
This could just be a poorly planned play to cut services, in disguise.
Yeah and knowing Florida's politics, that's probably exactly what this is, unfortunately.
Cancer can be cured but.....
What an incredibly kind, Canadian response. Makes me feel even worse for how the US government and American people are treating Canadians
The problem for Floridian homeowners isn't the property taxes, it's the insurance. The property taxes are there for a reason - to fund schools, fire, police, etc, and everybody is cool with that, although some are so greedy, they'll STILL vote to abolish property taxes, even if it means there's nobody to vacuum up the tweakers and crackheads breaking into your taxless home.
The homeowners insurance problem is keeping people from buying houses, even if they could afford it. There is already a lot of excess inventory on the market in Florida, and there's expected to be a LOT more over the next year, so prices aren't going to be the problem, the thing that going to keep people from buying is the inability to find reasonably priced insurance.
David Jolly, Democratic candidate for governor has a plan, but the MAGA did their own study, in which they characterize his plan as a tax, and now they're running ads, claiming that a "recent study' (without calling their own) called it a tax, and so now they have the rationalization to claim that Jolly wants to raise your taxes. No he doesn't, he wants to figure out a solution to the serious homeowners insurance problem in Florida, something the MAGAs stubbornly refuse to even acknowledge, no less try to fix it. They just want to shit on the only plan that anyone is proposing.
This is kinda like the New York City second house tax bill in outcome.