It’s really very tempting, isn’t it? I mean who wouldn’t want the taxes they pay on their house slashed? I certainly would welcome it. But is it the right thing to do? As you know, Gov. Ron DeSantis wants to cut property taxes by a significant amount by increasing the homestead exemption. And that exemption would continue to grow bigger over time. I understand why the governor is proposing this. Florida, once one of the more inexpensive places to live in the United States, is now one of the more expensive. Housing is part of that as is insurance and utility costs. So, we need a break, right?
Well, sure. But here is the thing. If we slash property taxes by around $40 billion, we will have to reduce the number of things we now don’t pay for. I assume there will have to be fees for things. A toll booth at our parks? Maybe. A fee for the library? Sure. A toll on every Florida road? A fee for any road repairs?
Your house is on fire? I hope you paid that fee for fire protection. And that guy trying to break into your home will likely succeed unless you paid that law enforcement fee.
I think I have made my point. There is no such thing as a cost-free government. That’s why we have taxes in the first place. We voters of Florida will have a say on this in November. It would take 60% of us to vote yes on the governor’s proposal for it to pass. I will be voting no. I hope you will join me. Ours is a big and complicated state. If we want to continue to live the sunshine life, we will need to finance it. I think DeSantis’ heart is in the right place (after all he can’t run for governor again) but I don’t think his head is.
John F. Kennedy wrote a book called “Profiles in Courage.” It won a Pulitzer Prize. In it, Kennedy’s profiles were of eight U.S. senators who demonstrated political courage by acting on their convictions despite immense political pressure not to. We could use more politicians like that and more voters as well. Will we vote to cut our own taxes? I guess we will find out in November. But let’s all look before we leap into the great financial unknown.
Chris Core is a former Washington, D.C. radio and television personality who now lives in Pass-a-Grille. He is a winner of the Edward R. Murrow Award for outstanding achievement in broadcast journalism.