The Florida Legislature on Tuesday approved Gov. Ron DeSantis’ property tax cut plan during a special session in Tallahassee.
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The proposal passed 30-9 in the Senate and 75 -26 in the House.
Before the plan was approved, lawmakers discussed the feasibility of the plan and also worked to approve changes made on Monday in committee.
One major change was protections for public school funding.
The special session had already brought changes to the property tax plan set forth by DeSantis, and committees amended the bill to protect funding for public schools.
The current plan that was considered would raise the homestead exemption limit to $150,000 in January 2027 and $250,000 in January 2028. But it would not apply to school district levies.
“I mean, me personally, I want to see property tax reform. But I also want to see it in a very responsible way, and it’s like anything else,” State Rep. Alex RizoI. “mean, I’m one of 120 members, and we all give leadership our opinions, and we’re free to go ahead and voice those opinions.”
Rizol said protecting public school funding was a major concern for lawmakers, and under the bill, future legislators would be able to expand the exemption.
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Lawmakers also did away with the trust fund meant to assist rural cities and counties during the transition.
The current bill also lowers the current 10% cap to 5% on annual assessment increases for non-homestead properties like vacation homes, investment and commercial properties and apartments.
A new calculator to determine home property tax savings in Florida is now available online.
The property tax proposal will appear on the November ballot for voters to consider, and it will require 60 percent support from the electorate to take effect.
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