According to the Jacksonville Daily Record, the governor's plan to increase the homestead exemption will have a negative impact on downtown revitalization. Here's the article URL: https://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/news/2026/jun/03/deegan-property-tax-vote-would-squelch-city-funding-for-downtown-revitalization/
Any thoughts on how accurate this is?
It will be a negative on just about anything being funded at the local level. The big projects relying on local public incentives will fizzle out when that financial faucet is turned off but the impact will be felt far outside of downtown.
Every neighborhood will take a hit as well. Its all simple math, once you remove the politics from the discussion. You can't squeeze blood out of a turnip.
Eliminating a major revenue source, also eliminates or severely reduces what it currently funds.
Ultimately, we get what we pay for. The best way to be a slum and be raggedy is to not invest in your well being. My prediction is most people refuse to read or count, so we'll FAFO and then get nickel and dimed in other ways to make up for the budgeting gaps and frustration that follows.
Councilman Carlucci said there were other ways to make up the funding (fees), but held off on proposing anything definite because he wants to see how the voters treat the idea. Also, I'm assuming the UF Jacksonville campus in La Villa, being publicly funded, isn't going to be impacted by this -?
I have an idea where they can cut spending to protect downtown revitalization credits: nix the U2C.
Quote from: Aristocles on Today at 04:58:16 PMCouncilman Carlucci said there were other ways to make up the funding (fees), but held off on proposing anything definite because he wants to see how the voters treat the idea. Also, I'm assuming the UF Jacksonville campus in La Villa, being publicly funded, isn't going to be impacted by this -?
I have an idea where they can cut spending to protect downtown revitalization credits: nix the U2C.
Incentives to UF might be affected. But, if you mean the UF doesn't pay property tax, so it won't be affected by the 'savings'.
Defunding the U2C won't counteract any losses from the property tax, as the U2C is funded from the Sales Tax.
Eliminating the property tax will result in massive fees everywhere. Government services are not going to be tolerated to shrink, especially public safety, parks and recreation, environment, garbage and cleanups, road and sidewalk maintenance, etc.
Expect sales tax, permit fees, park fees, parking fees, occupational license and other business fees, gas taxes, etc to mushroom. Also, real estate taxes on businesses and rental properties that would continue on. New fees and taxes will arise to replace the lost revenue too. Unfortunately, most of this will be regressive, hitting the poor the most heavily.
We already have a cap on residential property tax increases of 3% or inflation, whichever is lower, plus numerous exemptions. The best would be to exempt the first $100,000 or other amount of ALL residential living units including rental properties so renters don't take a hit either. Heck, go to exempting $250,000 or more, but don't eliminate the tax entirely. After all, residents are the main beneficiaries of City services so they should be willing to pay for what they get within reason.
DeSantis proposal is on par with Curry trying to sell JEA. One hit wonders leaving a trail of problems for others to clean up. So selfish.
Yeah, the U2C is a different pot of money and even if it is cut, that pot can't be used on random downtown revitalization projects and gimmicks.
As jaxlongtimer just stated and CM Carlucci hinted, expect getting hit with massive fees elsewhere.
At the end of the day, the person who actually needs help with affordability issues is going to get hit the hardest.
So much I'd like to say, but... too much to say. These politicians! It will be everyone else's problem when that asshole is running for president, again!
Quote from: thelakelander on Today at 07:44:52 PMYeah, the U2C is a different pot of money and even if it is cut, that pot can't be used on random downtown revitalization projects and gimmicks.
As jaxlongtimer just stated and CM Carlucci hinted, expect getting hit with massive fees elsewhere.
At the end of the day, the person who actually needs help with affordability issues is going to get hit the hardest.
How about using the sales tax for whatever it can be legally used for to fund essential services (and raising it to make up for the loss in property tax revenue if needed, along with fee increases if we hit a cap on the sales tax - I think we can go up to 8 - 8.5%), and giving the property tax incentives for development just like we do now? In other words, just replace the lost property tax revenue with new sales tax or fee revenue to cover budget items?
And yes, absolutely the increased homestead exemption will hurt those who can afford it least. I'm thinking in particular of renters. Only homestead property gets the exemption, so owners of rental properties don't qualify. To make up for the losses from the increased exemption, local governments could put rental property owners in the bullseye for increased property taxes - and these owners will pass those costs along to tenants with higher rents.
I'm thinking, as a strategy to defeat this thing, get all renters to vote against it. They're about a third of Florida's population, and as a constitutional amendment it needs 60% to pass. That puts it pretty close. Also it needs to be stressed that this, though it looks like a tax cut, really isn't - it's just a change in the style of taxation. Six or one half dozen. We need governments to protect our rights, but governments cost money - and that money has to come from somewhere.
Also listening to the governor talking about wealthy foreigners and tourists paying the taxes instead of Florida homeowners, isn't particularly good for Jax. For Miami, Palm Beach, Orlando, Sarasota and Naples maybe, but not Jax. Jax isn't a hotspot for wealthy foreigners and tourists unlike those other places, so while their local governments can get rich from foreigners and tourists, it'll be hard for Jax to tap into that. We'll have to get the money some other way.
I'm a homeowner and pay property taxes, have a homestead exemption too, and want tax cuts. I'd be all for raising the homestead exemption modestly, to 60-70 thousand for relief from increasing property valuations, and other perks like further reductions for seniors, etc. But $250K??? Crazy