TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Florida Republican Rep. Juan Carlos Porras is sponsoring a brand new measure, Home Joint Decision 205, that will exempt Florida residents 65 and older from paying non-school-related property taxes.
Porras says the objective is to deliver significant reduction to older Floridians residing on mounted incomes.
“Those that have lived on a hard and fast revenue, those who purchased their properties 10, 20, possibly even 30 years in the past, can not afford to reside the place they at the moment are,” Porras informed Florida’s Voice. “That’s not proper.”
The proposed constitutional modification is one in all eight property tax reform plans the Florida Home is at the moment contemplating. If handed by lawmakers and signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, the measures would seem on the 2026 statewide poll, giving voters the ultimate say.
“We have now whole confidence in our voters to coach themselves on the problem,” Porras mentioned. “We should always have the identical quantity of confidence in them to pick out which one in all these proposals ought to make it on the poll.”
How it might work
Beneath HJR 205, seniors 65 and older could be apply for the exemption by means of their native property tax appraiser. The exemption would solely apply to the non-school portion of the property taxes, which signifies that public schooling funding stays protected.
The entire proposals at the moment on the desk embody two key guardrails:
- No defunding of regulation enforcement
- No cuts to highschool taxes
These guidelines are baked into every proposal to make sure important companies aren’t compromised whereas nonetheless giving owners some monetary respiratory room.
Give attention to the weak
Porras says the precedence is to assist people who find themselves getting older in place and being squeezed by rising prices, from insurance coverage to property values.
“The thought clearly is to succeed in probably the most weak,” he defined. “As soon as they attain that age hole, they’ll then report that to their county Property Appraiser and get that new exemption.”
He additionally has a message for native governments: tighten your belts.
“If we as People need to tighten our belts at residence, then it’s time that a few of these native governments, a few of these counties and cities, learn to tighten their belts and their budgets as effectively,” he mentioned.
