When Floridians vote in November on whether to raise homestead exemptions through Amendment 3, they may also be voting to shift more of the property tax burden onto renters.
That’s the conclusion of a new analysis by Jared Walczak, a Senior Fellow at the center-right Tax Foundation who is known nationally for his work on state tax reform. Walczak wrote the report through his firm, Walczak Policy Consulting, for the Florida Housing Coalition, the Florida Apartment Association, and Miami Homes For All.
As Walczak sees it, the average property tax bill on an apartment unit in Florida could rise $406 a year by 2028, when the homestead exemption for non-school taxes would reach $250,000. Single-family rental homes could see a $1,081 increase. Owner-occupied properties that do not qualify for a homestead exemption would take the biggest hit, at $1,196.
“If local tax authorities adopt revenue-neutral rate increases (limited by rate caps) to offset the new homestead exemptions, we estimate that once the higher exemption is fully in effect in tax year 2028, total property tax burdens would rise 14.1% on residential rental properties (a 22.6% increase in non-school property tax liability),” Walczak wrote.
Walczak expects most of those increases to be passed on to renters over time.
Read the full news article on Florida Politics