Local Government / State Policy
Counties Sound Alarm Over DeSantis Property Tax Amendment
The Florida Association of Counties warns the governor’s proposed constitutional amendment would strip Escambia County of $72.9 million and Santa Rosa County of $49.3 million—while permanently eroding the tax base counties cannot recover.
The Florida Association of Counties (FAC) has raised formal objections to Gov. Ron DeSantis’ proposed constitutional amendment to cut property taxes, warning that the measure would impose deep, compounding revenue losses on every county in the state—including public school budgets.
For Northwest Florida, the numbers are stark. Escambia County would lose $72.9 million in ad valorem revenues over two years. Santa Rosa County would absorb a $49.3 million hit. Those cuts include funding for local school districts.
What the Bills Would Do
Two measures are moving through the Legislature’s special session. SB 2F is the joint resolution that would place the constitutional amendment before voters; SB 4F is the concurrent policy bill that implements the changes if the amendment passes.
Key provisions include:
- New homestead exemptions of $150,000 in 2027 and $250,000 in 2028, applicable to all levies, including school districts. The Legislature would then create a further phase-in schedule to fully eliminate this revenue source. Both exemptions grow automatically with inflation each year—meaning the tax base erodes permanently, and counties never recover the ground given up by each annual adjustment.
- Non-homestead assessment cap cut from 10% to 5%, affecting second homes and commercial real estate.
- Five-year Florida residency requirement before new residents qualify for the expanded exemption.
- Millage rate restrictions that tie the default maximum to the rolled-back rate rather than the current formula. The tax base shrinks, and counties cannot raise millage rates to compensate.
- Constitutional restrictions on allowable uses of county and municipal ad valorem revenue: limiting it to a closed list of six categories. Left out: supervisors of elections, clerks of courts, community health care, Medicaid cost-shift obligations, libraries, parks, animal control, affordable housing, veteran services, tax collectors, property appraisers, and other constitutional officers.
Public Safety Not Spared
Even sheriffs’ offices—nominally protected under the public safety category—face a practical freeze at 2026 funding levels. By 2030, law enforcement agencies would still be operating on a four-year-old budget while Florida’s population, calls for service, and demand on deputies continue to grow.
- The consequence: longer response times and fewer officers covering more ground.
A Trust Fund That Doesn’t Exist Yet
The legislation creates a state trust fund to offset revenue losses—which FAC notes is itself an implicit admission that local revenue cannot absorb what the amendment takes away. But the funding source, eligibility criteria, payment amounts, and duration are all left to future legislative action. Counties would be constitutionally bound by the revenue cuts, with no guarantee that the offset ever materializes as promised.
