Property tax relief sounds good — can Florida afford it?

FORT MYERS, Fla. – The idea of getting rid of property taxes is getting a lot of attention in Florida and plenty of excitement from residents.

In downtown Fort Myers, people were immediately on board.

Chrissy Wagner said, “That would be phenomenal.”

Sam Pollari said, “I think it's a great idea.”

The push for property tax relief is coming from Tallahassee, where lawmakers and Governor Ron DeSantis are talking about ways to lower homeowners’ bills.

But the big question is whether that kind of relief is actually possible — without cutting public safety or shifting the costs somewhere else.

WINK News took that question to Lee County Property Appraiser Matt Caldwell.

“Well, anything’s possible,” Caldwell said. “It’s just a question of where the money comes from to make up the difference.”

Lee County’s budget numbers show last year, property taxes brought in more than half a billion dollars for county government.

“Property taxes for the county this year amounted to roughly $530 million in net revenue,” he said.

That money funds the core functions of local government – and most of it goes toward keeping people safe.

Caldwell said about 80 percent of the county’s property tax revenue funds public safety, including law enforcement and EMS.

Property taxes also pay for schools, constitutional offices, and basic county services.

“Property taxes in Florida in general primarily fund local government,” Caldwell said. “So that’s going to be your police, your schools, the constitutional offices, my office, tax collector, supervisor and clerk as well. And the basic functions of the county government, the things that they provide, overseeing and administering, all the roads, the utilities, all those public services we rely on.”

Calwell said he does believe property tax relief is needed, pointing to how the homestead exemption has failed to keep up with inflation. 

He said one proposal he likes would change the homestead exemption from a flat dollar amount to a percentage of a home’s value, which he said would solve the inflation problem without needing constant updates. 

But if lawmakers cut what homeowners pay, Caldwell said the cost doesn’t disappear – it shifts.

“Ultimately, it ends up being a tax shift,” he said. “If the homestead property owners pay fewer property taxes, that’s going to be made up by the commercial property owners, the apartment buildings, the grocery stores, the folks who are going to not receive that benefit are going to have to make up the difference.”

That shift, he said, could affect consumers.

“If you shop at a grocery store and they’re paying higher property taxes, it’s going to have to get passed through in some way, shape or form,” Caldwell said.

Caldwell said there may be one area where lawmakers could see the biggest impact for homeowners – the statewide school tax.

“It’s about $11 billion in revenue statewide,” he said, “but it represents between 30 and 50% of every homeowner’s tax bill.”

If that tax were eliminated, Caldwell said schools would need another funding source.

“You would fund it through the state budget, through the sales tax,” he said.

Even then, Caldwell said property tax reform isn’t just about picking an idea — it’s about how it’s carried out.

“It’s also how you implement it,” he said. “So how do you administer the forms, the process, the dates, all of that has to also be worked out and adopted by the legislature.”

For now, lawmakers in Tallahassee are still debating how – or if – property tax relief could work, and how Florida would replace the billions of dollars that currently fund public safety, schools, and local governments. 

WINK News will keep you updated.