September 29, 2025 • 10 mins
Aside from these considerations, as I’ve mentioned since the onset of this debate and for decades before it, I firmly believe property taxes – all of them – are un-American. How can you say you ever own property if governments can seize it from you if you don’t continue to pay them taxes annually for it? To me this is about the premise aside from the other considerations.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Have a question or topic you want to have addressed.
Just ask. This is the Brian mud Show. Today's Q
and A local revenue from homestead of property taxes. We're
going to take a look at how much there is
and whether or not we can get rid of homestead
of property taxes in a way without causing all kinds
of havoc. Let's SAYN Brought to you, as always by
(00:24):
me Listen Ashes, check Mark collections. Each day I feature
a listener question that is sent by one of these methods.
You may email me Brian Mudd at iHeartMedia dot com,
hit me up on social apps Brian Mud Radio. We
also use the iHeartRadio talk back feature. We love it.
If you loved us, just go into the app. Make
this you number one preset. While you're in there, Brian
Mushow Podcast, you number two pre set, and while you're adding,
(00:47):
look for that little microphone button you see it tapping.
You may lay down a message right there, maybe even
something for a future Q and A swatawach. Today's note
Q and A Brian. I'm an avid listener and supporter
of your show. I am not in favor of ending
property taxes on homeowners in Florida. How can we hold
(01:08):
our elected officials accountable? If the income math changes overnight,
Palm Beach County needs help. If this ends up on
the ballot, we know it wins, then how do we
replace the two billion we get from property taxes? The
concept might have merit, but without a thought out plan,
how does government function? How do we share the cost
(01:31):
of operating? Okay, good questions and their questions are going
to come up time and again. Should the state legislature
follow through with Governor de Santus' plan for the legislature
to pass around a proposed constitutional amendment that voters could
consider on next November's ballot. So throughout the course of
(01:53):
this year, as the debate has played out, most recently
with the onset of the Florida DOJE audits, which, by
the way, we are getting fairly close to being able
to see some of those initial audits they said sixty
days after they took place, well a little more than
halfway there. I've addressed aspects of what you're asking for,
but I'm going to seek to kind of like tie
it all together for you today. So I'm going to
(02:15):
take your questions in the order that you presented them,
starting with accountability. You know, in many states and to
our local governments exempt certain people from paying property taxes.
Common examples of this include senior citizens, veterans, and disabled homeowners.
There is no evidence of these groups having been treated
differently or having lost influence with locally elected officials in
(02:38):
their communities after having been exempted from paying property taxes.
I think one of the ways to think about the
potential implications from an accountability perspective is just the way
that all other elected politicians are held accountable. For example,
have you ever noticed your congressional representative identifying those who
pay the most in federal income taxes and super serving
(02:59):
their interests. I'm not talking about the donors you know
and superservace, but just okay, who are the richest people
paying the most in federal income taxes? Let me just
go do all of their bidding. Right, So I can't
say that we see that happen. Accountability would likely to
be the same as it's been registered voters in giving
(03:23):
communities that are going to be your homesteaded property owners, right.
The one caveat that could be argued on this point
would be business owners. It could be argued that the
elimination of property taxes for homestead of properties could lead
to local communities seeking to super serve commercial interest as
business owners would be paying property taxes and also as
local sales taxes would be a more important part of
(03:47):
the revenue stream for many communities. There could be pros
and cons to that dynamic work to play out that
way in the same breath. You know, snowbirds and landlords
would also likely gain additional consideration even without holding votes
within the communities, because basically you would have a benefit
to communities to have more of those second homes, more
(04:09):
of those outside interests that would not be able to homestead. Right.
So that's the analytical kind of lay of the land there.
But the accountability piece they're still going to be because
the only people voting for them are going to be
those are the homestead of people. As to the statement
that if this makes the ballot it would pass, I
mean potentially, I certainly hope so, but it may not
(04:30):
be a slam dunk. It's way dangerous to read much
of anything into any awful election. Your polls about hypothetical situations,
which still is. But with that said, there's only one
poll that I found, and there have been numerous that
have been conducted, but I've only found one that shows
the elimination of property taxes on homestead of properties would
clear the needed sixty percent threshold of voters to amend
(04:53):
the state's constitution. It was a recently conducted James Madison
Institute poll that did show support at sixty but sixty
five percent would imply that it is far from this
land done give on the ballot. We're not talking about
ninety percent of people here, talking about a number that,
if it moved just a little bit, you know, could
make the difference. And that's especially true due to what's
(05:14):
likely to happen from a marketing perspective. If this proposal
is on our ballots next year, you would likely have
just about every county government, municipal government, and taxing authority
in the state talking about teachers, schools. The Union's going
to come out with force, firefighters, police, you name it.
They're going to come out against this thing. They're going
to say they're not going to have the money that
(05:35):
they need. Now. I currently believe because of that reality,
it would be an uphill battle to get this thing passed.
So I don't necessarily think, hey, just gets on the ballot,
it's guaranteed. As for the rest of the considerations, including
where the revenue to operate would come from, oh boy,
that part is actually much easier than most think. So.
(05:55):
Earlier this year, the Florida Policy Institute, which by the way,
is opposed to theminating homestead of property taxes, produced a
related report. In it, they identify that within Florida homesteaded
property taxes, what percentage do you think is accounted for there?
How much of county revenue comes from homesteaded property taxes,
(06:16):
and the ideas what about municipal revenue? The answer eighteen
percent of county revenue, seventeen percent of municipal revenue, and
while that can vary considerably from community to community based
upon the location, the composition of residential versus commercial interests, etc.
(06:40):
It paigns an instructive picture, especially with Palm Beach County
in focus. Last year, one point seven to six billion
dollars in total property taxes were collected homesteaded and non
home steaded properties, and even the total amount with non
home steaded properties came in and nineteen percent of the
(07:03):
current county operating budget. So consider this some of the
information I brought you when the Florida DOGE team was
coming to Palm Beach County hell efficient is PPC's government well.
A Florida Tax Watch study found that Palm Beach County
loves taxing and spending. This includes statewide, the fourth highest
overall property tax collections that are fifty eight percent above average,
(07:25):
the eighth highest in county only property taxes running forty
percent above average, third highest and municipal property taxes running
seventy seven percent above average, and the eleventh highest. In
combined county and municipal revenue eleven percent above average, and
just for good measure, local option sales tax revenue also
(07:46):
runs six percent above the state average too. So in
other words, there is likely lots of room for there
to be some dozing to do. In my analysis at
the time of the Florida doch audit, I found that,
adjusted for inflation and population changes, Lom Beach County's government
the spending had risen by greater than fifteen percent over
(08:10):
the prior five years. Again, adjusted for all factors, they
just expanded the size of the county government by fifteen percent.
And that's a figure that's higher than the homestead of
property tax revenue. So, in other words, to the question
of how could they run the government without the homestead
of property taxes, well, shoot, the answer would be the
(08:31):
way they did back in twenty nineteen. And I'm not
talking about, you know, in a non inflation adjusted way. Again,
I've used adjusted for inflation here. All they would have
to do is just go about running the government the
way they did in twenty nineteen. And my final related
point is this, every local government has already done this
(08:52):
type of thing. During the Great Recession, there is an
average forty percent decline in property assessed values from the
top of the housing boom to the bottom of the
housing bust. Now, the decline it was mitigated to a
degree because you had many local governments that somewhat grossly
(09:15):
raised millage rates in the middle of the Great Recession
to kind of compensate for that. Still, however, the average
decline in property tax revenue during the Great Recession for
local governments was thirteen percent. That is a figure that
is very close to what we're talking about here with
the potential elimination of homestead of property taxes. In fact,
during the Great Recession, Several studies were conducted regarding maybe
(09:37):
even moving away from property taxation for revenue because of
it being an unreliable source. The most significant was published
in Science direct in twenty eleven entitled Rethinking government reliance
on the property tax and Aside from those considerations. As
I've mentioned since the onset of this debate and for
decades before it, I do firmly believe property taxes, all
(10:00):
of them, are un American because how can you ever
say that you own property if governments can seize it
from you if you don't continue to pay them annually
to keep it. That, to me, is a foundational thing.
I think it's more important than the rest of It
does need to be worked out, but again, it's not
just a matter of saying, hey, it's a nice idea,
so let's do it, and everything hits the fan. No
(10:22):
is an outlined here. It is imminently doable. It's easier
for some communities to do it than others, but without
a doubt locally it can be done.
Have a question or topic you want to have addressed.
Just ask. This is the Brian mud Show. Today's Q
and A local revenue from homestead of property taxes. We're
going to take a look at how much there is
and whether or not we can get rid of homestead
of property taxes in a way without causing all kinds
of havoc. Let's SAYN Brought to you, as always by
(00:24):
me Listen Ashes, check Mark collections. Each day I feature
a listener question that is sent by one of these methods.
You may email me Brian Mudd at iHeartMedia dot com,
hit me up on social apps Brian Mud Radio. We
also use the iHeartRadio talk back feature. We love it.
If you loved us, just go into the app. Make
this you number one preset. While you're in there, Brian
Mushow Podcast, you number two pre set, and while you're adding,
(00:47):
look for that little microphone button you see it tapping.
You may lay down a message right there, maybe even
something for a future Q and A swatawach. Today's note
Q and A Brian. I'm an avid listener and supporter
of your show. I am not in favor of ending
property taxes on homeowners in Florida. How can we hold
(01:08):
our elected officials accountable? If the income math changes overnight,
Palm Beach County needs help. If this ends up on
the ballot, we know it wins, then how do we
replace the two billion we get from property taxes? The
concept might have merit, but without a thought out plan,
how does government function? How do we share the cost
(01:31):
of operating? Okay, good questions and their questions are going
to come up time and again. Should the state legislature
follow through with Governor de Santus' plan for the legislature
to pass around a proposed constitutional amendment that voters could
consider on next November's ballot. So throughout the course of
(01:53):
this year, as the debate has played out, most recently
with the onset of the Florida DOJE audits, which, by
the way, we are getting fairly close to being able
to see some of those initial audits they said sixty
days after they took place, well a little more than
halfway there. I've addressed aspects of what you're asking for,
but I'm going to seek to kind of like tie
it all together for you today. So I'm going to
(02:15):
take your questions in the order that you presented them,
starting with accountability. You know, in many states and to
our local governments exempt certain people from paying property taxes.
Common examples of this include senior citizens, veterans, and disabled homeowners.
There is no evidence of these groups having been treated
differently or having lost influence with locally elected officials in
(02:38):
their communities after having been exempted from paying property taxes.
I think one of the ways to think about the
potential implications from an accountability perspective is just the way
that all other elected politicians are held accountable. For example,
have you ever noticed your congressional representative identifying those who
pay the most in federal income taxes and super serving
(02:59):
their interests. I'm not talking about the donors you know
and superservace, but just okay, who are the richest people
paying the most in federal income taxes? Let me just
go do all of their bidding. Right, So I can't
say that we see that happen. Accountability would likely to
be the same as it's been registered voters in giving
(03:23):
communities that are going to be your homesteaded property owners, right.
The one caveat that could be argued on this point
would be business owners. It could be argued that the
elimination of property taxes for homestead of properties could lead
to local communities seeking to super serve commercial interest as
business owners would be paying property taxes and also as
local sales taxes would be a more important part of
(03:47):
the revenue stream for many communities. There could be pros
and cons to that dynamic work to play out that
way in the same breath. You know, snowbirds and landlords
would also likely gain additional consideration even without holding votes
within the communities, because basically you would have a benefit
to communities to have more of those second homes, more
(04:09):
of those outside interests that would not be able to homestead. Right.
So that's the analytical kind of lay of the land there.
But the accountability piece they're still going to be because
the only people voting for them are going to be
those are the homestead of people. As to the statement
that if this makes the ballot it would pass, I
mean potentially, I certainly hope so, but it may not
(04:30):
be a slam dunk. It's way dangerous to read much
of anything into any awful election. Your polls about hypothetical situations,
which still is. But with that said, there's only one
poll that I found, and there have been numerous that
have been conducted, but I've only found one that shows
the elimination of property taxes on homestead of properties would
clear the needed sixty percent threshold of voters to amend
(04:53):
the state's constitution. It was a recently conducted James Madison
Institute poll that did show support at sixty but sixty
five percent would imply that it is far from this
land done give on the ballot. We're not talking about
ninety percent of people here, talking about a number that,
if it moved just a little bit, you know, could
make the difference. And that's especially true due to what's
(05:14):
likely to happen from a marketing perspective. If this proposal
is on our ballots next year, you would likely have
just about every county government, municipal government, and taxing authority
in the state talking about teachers, schools. The Union's going
to come out with force, firefighters, police, you name it.
They're going to come out against this thing. They're going
to say they're not going to have the money that
(05:35):
they need. Now. I currently believe because of that reality,
it would be an uphill battle to get this thing passed.
So I don't necessarily think, hey, just gets on the ballot,
it's guaranteed. As for the rest of the considerations, including
where the revenue to operate would come from, oh boy,
that part is actually much easier than most think. So.
(05:55):
Earlier this year, the Florida Policy Institute, which by the way,
is opposed to theminating homestead of property taxes, produced a
related report. In it, they identify that within Florida homesteaded
property taxes, what percentage do you think is accounted for there?
How much of county revenue comes from homesteaded property taxes,
(06:16):
and the ideas what about municipal revenue? The answer eighteen
percent of county revenue, seventeen percent of municipal revenue, and
while that can vary considerably from community to community based
upon the location, the composition of residential versus commercial interests, etc.
(06:40):
It paigns an instructive picture, especially with Palm Beach County
in focus. Last year, one point seven to six billion
dollars in total property taxes were collected homesteaded and non
home steaded properties, and even the total amount with non
home steaded properties came in and nineteen percent of the
(07:03):
current county operating budget. So consider this some of the
information I brought you when the Florida DOGE team was
coming to Palm Beach County hell efficient is PPC's government well.
A Florida Tax Watch study found that Palm Beach County
loves taxing and spending. This includes statewide, the fourth highest
overall property tax collections that are fifty eight percent above average,
(07:25):
the eighth highest in county only property taxes running forty
percent above average, third highest and municipal property taxes running
seventy seven percent above average, and the eleventh highest. In
combined county and municipal revenue eleven percent above average, and
just for good measure, local option sales tax revenue also
(07:46):
runs six percent above the state average too. So in
other words, there is likely lots of room for there
to be some dozing to do. In my analysis at
the time of the Florida doch audit, I found that,
adjusted for inflation and population changes, Lom Beach County's government
the spending had risen by greater than fifteen percent over
(08:10):
the prior five years. Again, adjusted for all factors, they
just expanded the size of the county government by fifteen percent.
And that's a figure that's higher than the homestead of
property tax revenue. So, in other words, to the question
of how could they run the government without the homestead
of property taxes, well, shoot, the answer would be the
(08:31):
way they did back in twenty nineteen. And I'm not
talking about, you know, in a non inflation adjusted way. Again,
I've used adjusted for inflation here. All they would have
to do is just go about running the government the
way they did in twenty nineteen. And my final related
point is this, every local government has already done this
(08:52):
type of thing. During the Great Recession, there is an
average forty percent decline in property assessed values from the
top of the housing boom to the bottom of the
housing bust. Now, the decline it was mitigated to a
degree because you had many local governments that somewhat grossly
(09:15):
raised millage rates in the middle of the Great Recession
to kind of compensate for that. Still, however, the average
decline in property tax revenue during the Great Recession for
local governments was thirteen percent. That is a figure that
is very close to what we're talking about here with
the potential elimination of homestead of property taxes. In fact,
during the Great Recession, Several studies were conducted regarding maybe
(09:37):
even moving away from property taxation for revenue because of
it being an unreliable source. The most significant was published
in Science direct in twenty eleven entitled Rethinking government reliance
on the property tax and Aside from those considerations. As
I've mentioned since the onset of this debate and for
decades before it, I do firmly believe property taxes, all
(10:00):
of them, are un American because how can you ever
say that you own property if governments can seize it
from you if you don't continue to pay them annually
to keep it. That, to me, is a foundational thing.
I think it's more important than the rest of It
does need to be worked out, but again, it's not
just a matter of saying, hey, it's a nice idea,
so let's do it, and everything hits the fan. No
(10:22):
is an outlined here. It is imminently doable. It's easier
for some communities to do it than others, but without
a doubt locally it can be done.
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