Would you like your property taxes to drop dramatically — or completely disappear?
Of course you would. Don’t sweat the details. Just vote “yes” when you’re told, and everything will be fine.
This is the ultimate ballot bait — masking a hidden agenda. It’s headed your way, in little more than a year.
A state propaganda campaign is underway. First, make local officials look like reckless free-spenders who raise your taxes and waste your money on programs that Tallahassee disapproves of as too “woke,” too green, or too something.
Then cook up a property-tax conversion plan that superficially sounds reasonable but hides a massive power shift from cities, counties and school boards to remote state bureaucrats.
Next, mount a “vote yes” campaign, paid by wealthy special interests with the most to gain from a radical tax shift, and expect voters to take the bait without raising obvious questions about the impact on public safety and other services paid for with property taxes.
Pay attention, people
People in Florida are smarter than that — we hope.
If enough of them speak out, they may derail this dangerous idea, because if it reaches the ballot in November 2026, it will be hard to stop.
For years, legislators have repeatedly attacked and weakened local home rule, most recently crippling the ability of cities and counties to regulate land use. The ultimate power grab is the state taking away the money that local governments need to survive.
The latest aggression is the creation of a state-level DOGE. It’s a political attack on local spending — in Broward, Palm Beach, Orlando and elsewhere — dressed up to look like a search for government efficiency.
Ignoring obvious examples of waste in state agencies, DOGE created fake “audits” of local government that are more driven by politics than fiscal responsibility, targeting property taxes to make Floridians think they are overtaxed. Yes, there is waste and inefficiency in all levels of government, but this isn’t the way to fix it.
The motive is obvious: Create a narrative that local governments routinely overspend on ridiculous priorities, as a pretext to take away their ability to set property tax rates. It is a road to ruin for Florida communities.
A power grab
Multiple proposals on the table would gut property taxes. The most moderate one, so far, is a proposal by state Rep. Ryan Chamberlin, R-Belleview, that would limit cities, counties and school boards to the tax revenue they collected in 2022-23.
Chamberlin’s plan would make up for the lost tax revenue by adding a 5% “fee” to real estate transactions along with a new 5% fee on hotel stays, rental cars and theme park tickets, and a “fee” of 2% to 3% on retail sales.
Calling them fees won’t change a thing. These are taxes by another name.
Another proposal would vastly expand the homestead exemption, making homes worth up to $500,000 or even $1 million tax-free.
And of course, some leaders say they want to do away with property taxes entirely.
Cities and counties now set their own tax rates, capped under the state Constitution at $10 per $1,000 of taxable property value, or 10 mills. Most local governments levy less than half that much.
Inevitable punishment
If a big portion of tax decision-making shifted to Tallahassee, local voters’ wishes would matter much less. And state government would have much more control over local decisions, including increased ability to punish communities that don’t bow to Tallahassee’s political whims by withholding money, naturally.
The bottom line is this: In any government, taxes equal power. And the current regime in Tallahassee wants to grab as much power as it can, with decisions made hundreds of miles from the people of Florida who will actually feel the effects.
This is a radical, poorly vetted upheaval of Floridians’ ability to have the kind of government they want, draped in a deceptive cloak of promised tax relief. Floridians need to show they won’t be bribed into approving a plan that holds such potential for disaster, knowing they will suffer greatly in the long run.
The Sun Sentinel Editorial Board consists of Opinion Editor Steve Bousquet, Deputy Opinion Editor Dan Sweeney, editorial writers Pat Beall and Martin Dyckman, and Executive Editor Gretchen Day-Bryant. To contact us, email at letters@sun-sentinel.com.
