Florida Voters Get Chance to Lower Property Taxes

Florida voters will have a chance to reduce property taxes for commercial property owners and first-time home buyers under a constitutional amendment that will appear on the November 2012 ballot.

The proposal, which is hailed by the commercial and residential real estate industry and shunned by cities and counties, was approved, 25-12, by the Florida Senate, despite warnings that it worsens the inequities in Florida’s property tax system. The House passed the measure, 105-11.

“This bill, although it’s headed in the right direction, doesn’t solve the problem,’’ said Sen. David Simmons (R-Altamonte Springs). If approved, the measure will increase the number of homes and businesses located on the same street, but with different tax rates. “We are compounding the inequity that exists in our tax laws,’’ he said.

Voters in 2010 added a cap on commercial property tax assessments at 10 percent. The 2012 amendment would lower that threshold to 5 percent, affecting businesses and commercial property beginning with the 2013 tax bills.

Sponsor of the bill, Sen. Mike Fasano (R-New Port Richey), said that the adjustment is needed to spur Florida’s anemic real estate market. Realtors believe the measure will help market Florida commercial and residential property to out-of-state investors by finding buyers for the inventory, which has been stagnating on the market since the Wall Street collapse.

“This is huge,’’ said John Sebree, president of the Florida Association of Realtors. But cities and counties, which believe the measure could reduce Florida’s $26 billion property tax base by more than $500 million a year, fear the concept will strip them of the money needed to finance their already struggling budgets to provide services. “We all want to pay less taxes but we all enjoy roads that work, parks, and police and fire departments,’’ said Sen. Chris Smith, D-Fort Lauderdale, who voted against the bill.

Fasano’s amendment would take effect in 2013 and sunset in 2023.