Gov. Ron DeSantis is once again calling on state lawmakers to give Floridians some kind of property tax relief.
Kathleen Hauff has called Plant City home for three decades but says she is being priced out of paradise.
“Between our property taxes, and our homeowner’s insurance and car insurance, we can’t live here anymore,” Hauff said.
Hauff says her property tax has gone up about 60 percent in the last three years and as a person on a fixed income, she is struggling.
“The house was purchased in 1990, and our taxes are exorbitant. I live on Social Security; my father is 90 years of age. Our income is what it is. We don’t get raises and everything else seems to go up and we’re being pushed out of middle class living,” Hauff said.
Gov. Ron DeSantis is promising that property tax relief will be on the 2026 ballot.
“We’re setting up to do property tax relief, which is really needed in Florida,” DeSantis said. “Until someone pays for your property, you don’t really know how much it’s worth. If you pay $250,000 for a home 10 years ago now they come and tell you, ‘Oh, it’s actually worth $800,000. Pay up in more taxes.’ Well, really? Who says that? Just because some other house may have sold it doesn’t mean — and the market fluctuates.”
Property taxes are the biggest source of revenue for local governments, funding everything from schools to police. DeSantis proposed local governments raise tourist taxes to compensate.
“Tax the tourists, tax some of the foreigners. You have the ability in some of those areas that draw a lot of people to shift the tax burden away from your own people to people that are not residents of Florida,” DeSantis said.
Hauff said relief can’t come soon enough. “The people need relief.”
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