Comments on: Sen. Don Gaetz Explains Why He Backed Florida Homestead Property Tax Relief Measure

By: TB

TB — Thu, 18 Jun 2026 00:43:15 +0000

I don’t want a cut, I want it gone altogether.
Funny how the money that funded schools was “Swapped” for the Florida Lottery money, not “Added to”
Personally I’m tired of millions of metric tons of concrete being poured down the center of our roads eliminating our turning lanes only to put “No U-Turn” signs at the ends of them forcing you to drive a thousand more feet to be able to turn around to patronize someone’s business.
Meanwhile road drainage gets ignored.
Maybe spending will be given more thought if it had to be budgeted like we have to with our personal budgets at home.

By: Struggling

Struggling — Wed, 17 Jun 2026 21:50:21 +0000

There is always more to these bills than is stated up front.
As someone who lives on family land that we’ve paid taxes on for 120+ years; my question is when will we ever own this land? I can no longer afford the tax and am in danger of losing my home as we speak. This is not ok and I’m so happy for some relief… If this happens in time…??
As far as the services that will possibly be stopped…. I don’t receive any of the services that I’ve paid for for a hundred years!! In the North end of Escambia county there are NO services that I am aware of. So to all that do benefit from the services my taxes have paid for all this time…. Your welcome.
Now, I need some relief before I find myself homeless due to some LLC basically stealing properties for sometimes under $2k
The county tax system definitely needs to be audited and reassigned.
The LLC runs the website you pay your taxes through and the count only gives one month to be late on payment before they sell the tax certificate.
Escambia county have been thieves for many years in my opinion.

By: A citizen

A citizen — Wed, 17 Jun 2026 16:26:42 +0000

There should be No taxes associated with property because we have already paid our taxes when we bought our property. The school tax, county etc should be separated from our property. Get # of students in public school and divide that into the school tax amount and that would equal the amount each student pays, that way everybody pays for their child and those that don’t have children in school system doesn’t pay for children they’re not caring for.

By: Adsup

Adsup — Wed, 17 Jun 2026 15:23:43 +0000

Maybe they could have increased the homestead exemption to $100,000 on those below the age of 64 & $250,000 on those above 65. It’ll help the senior citizens. All have to budget now, maybe some of the service costs can be looked at, ie, instead of contracting out so many things, maybe they get those in prisons to do more of the work.

By: Voices in Pensacola

Voices in Pensacola — Wed, 17 Jun 2026 11:01:11 +0000

I cannot vote for this.

Raising the Homestead Exemption is certainly understandable. It should be tied to valuation inflation and should have been from years ago.

But there are three (maybe four) major problems I have with this package:

1. This does not solve the Save Our Homes flaw (longevity holds down taxes, causing great tax discrepancies between even identical homes next to one another);

2. It lowers millage rates and sets caps. This benefits very wealthy homeowners. (Panhandle residents cannot imagine the significant number of very, VERY luxurious homes and condos there are downstate. These owners have far more wealth than we can comprehend and are part of the upper 1%, 5%. They have lobbied for a tax cut on real estate.

3. Renters get no cut at all because taxes on real non-homestead property will not go down and will be paid through rent.

4. Because it’s a constitutional change, rescinding it will be monumentally difficult.

Services we get from our local governments and take for granted will be cut. You may not like certain services, but even the things you like (and don’t realize you like) will get axed. I cannot support this.

By: David Huie Green

David Huie Green — Tue, 16 Jun 2026 00:52:55 +0000

Michael Dukakis cut taxes just before running for president. To people outside of Massachusetts he called it The Massachusetts Miracle. By the time the bills came home to roost, the election was over. Our governor wants to be the next president. Donald has shown he can get away with stealing billions of dollars despite what the Constitution says.
It’s worth a shot.

By: Well

Well — Mon, 15 Jun 2026 21:40:40 +0000

I don’t see one comment where anyone said what they wanted to be cut in Escambia County. Here’s a good start.

LIBRARY
ECAT

By: Robert MacFann

Robert MacFann — Mon, 15 Jun 2026 19:15:31 +0000

Florida’s property tax cut sounds appealing, but it comes with real tradeoffs. Property taxes fund core local services – police, fire, infrastructure, and cutting them removes billions from city and county budgets.

That money doesn’t disappear. It means fewer services or higher fees and taxes elsewhere, often shifting the burden onto renters and businesses instead of homeowners.

It also risks long-term stability. Property taxes are one of the most reliable funding sources local governments have, and weakening them can strain budgets and delay critical infrastructure.

And the consequences won’t be abstract. In places like the Panhandle, cutting funds for public safety and infrastructure means communities will be less prepared when the next hurricane hits.

The problem – rising tax bills- is real. But this solution is too blunt: it trades short-term relief for long-term risk and simply shifts costs rather than solving them.

By: rd

rd — Mon, 15 Jun 2026 15:50:34 +0000

@Derek..Amen Brother.
My property taxes (without fire) have only increase 6% total in 12 years. My fire coverage increased 88%, almost all of which happened when his changes to the law were enacted.

By: Jlb

Jlb — Mon, 15 Jun 2026 15:42:08 +0000

No one should loose their home because they di6pay property tax. There’s plenty of money coming in.. just have to spend it more wisely.