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Yahoo
a day ago
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Budget conference begins on Tuesday
Senate President Ben Albritton (L) and House Speaker Danny Perez (R). (Photos via Florida Senate and Florida House of Representatives) Florida legislators are finally heading back to Tallahassee to wrap up their work for the year. Senate President Ben Albritton and House Speaker Daniel Perez announced late Friday that closed-door negotiations had yielded a breakthrough on the state budget as legislative leaders agreed to a 'framework' they will use to draw up a final budget bill. The plan as outlined in memos to House and Senate members is for legislators to begin formal budget conference meetings on Tuesday with the goal of voting out a new budget for 2025-26 by June 16. Florida's fiscal year starts on July 1. The main job each year of the Florida Legislature is to pass an annual budget which authorizes billions in spending on education, healthcare, the environment, transportation, public safety, and more. The lingering standoff on the budget had led to the possibility of a state government shutdown While many details remain unclear, the deal announced on Friday would yield a substantial tax cut break for businesses versus a much smaller set of tax cuts for Florida families. The agreement does not include any consideration of a cut in the sales tax rate that had been championed by Perez and House Republicans. Legislators left town in early May after failing to pass a budget during their 60-day session. On its final day, the House and Senate agreed to extend until June 6. At the time, Albritton and Perez announced an agreement to cut taxes by $2.8 billion, including a cut in the state's sales tax. But that deal fell apart after Gov. Ron DeSantis warned he'd veto it, lest it undercut his push to reduce property taxes. Albritton backed away from the earlier deal. That decision prompted sharp criticism from Perez, who said that Albritton had broken his word. The new agreement calls for $2.25 billion in 'revenue reductions' that include the elimination of the sales tax charged on commercial leases and business rent that is estimated to cost $900 million. The two sides also agreed to $350 million in 'permanent sales tax exemptions targeted toward Florida families.' The memo did not explain exactly what exemptions, although the Senate previously had suggested eliminating some taxes charged on shoes and clothes. The rest of the revenue reductions, however, would include $200 million for paying down existing state debt and $750 million that would eventually be placed in the Budget Stabilization Fund. The size of that 'rainy day fund' is now capped, so legislative leaders would ask voters in 2026 to approve raising that limit. In the meanwhile, they want to set aside money in reserves that will eventually go to the fund. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Florida Legislature reaches preliminary budget agreement
The Brief Legislative leaders in Florida say they've reached a budget deal that includes nearly $2 billion in tax relief. The agreement paves the way for lawmakers to negotiate full spending details next week. A final vote is expected by June 16, just in time for the July 1 fiscal deadline. TALLAHASSEE, Florida - The Florida Legislature has tentatively reached a budget agreement, Florida House speaker Daniel Perez told state leaders in a memo late Friday. What we know After weeks of stalled negotiations, Florida House Speaker Daniel Perez and Senate President Ben Albritton announced late Friday that they've agreed on a budget framework for the 2025–2026 fiscal year. By the numbers The $900 million plan eliminates the tax on commercial leases, a long-pursued priority for business groups, and includes $350 million in permanent sales-tax exemptions aimed at helping Florida families. It also allocates $250 million to debt reduction and $750 million to the state's rainy-day fund. What they're saying House Speaker Daniel Perez, R-Miami, and Senate President Ben Albritton, R-Wauchula, issued memos that indicated they expect to pass a budget for the 2025-2026 fiscal year on June 16. The memos came after weeks of behind-the-scenes talks aimed at trying to kick-start the conference negotiating process. "I appreciate everyone's patience during this unusual and protracted allocation process. I am pleased to inform you that we have reached an agreement with the Florida Senate," Speaker Perez said in the memo, adding that the budget conference would begin next week. "We will also be taking up a joint resolution to amend the Florida Constitution to raise the cap on the Budget Stabilization Fund (BSF) from 10% to 25% and require an annual payment ($750 million) into the BSF until the cap has been reached," he said. "In total, the framework set forth in these allocations provides for a fiscally responsible, balanced budget that reduces state spending, lowers per capita spending, and reduces the growth of state bureaucracy," Albritton wrote in his memo. "The budget authorizes early payoff of state debt, accounts for significant, broad-based tax relief, and builds on historic state reserves for emergencies," he added. The backstory The budget impasse stems from deep divisions between the House and Senate over how to cut taxes. The House initially pushed a $5 billion plan that would have slashed the state's sales-tax rate, while the Senate favored targeted tax holidays and commercial-lease tax reductions. Although leaders said on May 2 that they'd agreed to a $2.8 billion tax cut package, that tentative deal fell apart publicly when Perez accused Albritton of backing out. Albritton countered that senators felt a blanket sales-tax cut wouldn't be felt meaningfully by Floridians. Big picture view The delay in passing a budget highlights ongoing friction within Florida's Republican-led government, particularly when it comes to fiscal priorities. With a $117 billion proposed state budget, decisions around tax policy reflect competing visions of how best to ease the cost burden on residents and stimulate the economy. The current deal leans on more targeted tax relief, signaling a shift toward smaller-scale benefits rather than across-the-board cuts. Dig deeper Among the negotiated agreements that Speaker Perez noted in his memo: $2.25 billion in recurring revenue reductions Elimination of the business rent tax ($900 million) Permanent sales tax exemptions ($350 million) $250 million in debt reduction The Florida House will convene on Thursday, June 5 at 9 a.m. The House Budget will convene that same day in the afternoon. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis unveiled his budget proposal in February and tasked the Florida Legislature to take it up quickly. However, state lawmakers had to extend their talks as they were unable to reach an agreement. Among Gov. DeSantis' budget wishes: Repeal of the state's business rent tax Creation of a new venture capital tax credit program, funded at $100 million A 14-day back-to-school sales tax holiday on school supplies, clothing, and computers Two 14-day disaster preparedness sales tax holidays on hurricane supplies A one-month summer sales tax holiday on outdoor recreation items A 7-day tool time sales tax holiday on tools Second Amendment sales tax holiday between Memorial Day and Fourth of July on ammunition, firearms, and accessories A two-month boating fuel tax holiday on gas A year-long exemption of the mortgage tax A 2-year delay of the natural gas fuel tax set to start Jan. 1, 2026 What we don't know The memos released by legislative leaders did not specify which items will be covered by the $350 million in sales-tax exemptions. They also omitted any reference to the property-tax relief that Gov. Ron DeSantis had previously championed. The lack of detail leaves questions about how the exemptions will be structured and which families or income brackets may benefit most. What's next Conference committees will start meeting on Tuesday to negotiate details of the different parts of the budget, such as education, healthcare and criminal justice. Unresolved issues will go Thursday to House Budget Chairman Lawrence McClure, R-Dover, and Senate Appropriations Chairman Ed Hooper, R-Trinity, for further negotiations. The fiscal year will start July 1, which, if a budget passes June 16, will give Gov. Ron DeSantis two weeks to use his line-item veto authority. STAY CONNECTED WITH FOX 35 ORLANDO: Download the FOX Local app for breaking news alerts, the latest news headlines Download the FOX 35 Storm Team Weather app for weather alerts & radar Sign up for FOX 35's daily newsletter for the latest morning headlines FOX Local:Stream FOX 35 newscasts, FOX 35 News+, Central Florida Eats on your smart TV The Source House Speaker Daniel Perez issued a statement late Friday, May 30. Gov. Ron DeSantis unveiled his budget goals in February 2025.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
‘Where's the budget?' Floridians grow impatient over state budget battle
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WFLA) — As Florida eyes the skies for hurricane season, there's another storm brewing over at the statehouse, Lawmakers have yet to hammer out a budget plan and the clock is ticking. State senators and representatives have been back home in their districts for about a month now, and their constituents have one big question: where's the state budget? DUI driver who killed Lake Placid teen drove 5x the legal limit 'They're wondering when we're going to complete the budget; there's, there's a lot of that more than I anticipated,' said State Senator Nick DiCeglie, R-Indian Rocks Beach. With weeks to go before the new fiscal year kicks off, 8 On Your Side spoke to several local leaders in the bay area to get to the bottom of the budget battle. 'What I assured them is a number of things, #1 is that there will be a state budget,' said State Representative Berny Jacques, R-Seminole. 'There will be no state government shutdown. They can take that to the bank. Secondly, I make sure that they know that we are going to cut wasteful spending in state government. That's not negotiable. There will be cuts to wasteful spending. And third, I let them know that the key functions of government will be funded everything from public safety to education. Those things will be funded in an adequate and a strong manner.' 'I do anticipate us getting this budget done by June 30,' said Senator DiCeglie, R-Indian Rocks Beach. 'We will eventually get our heads together and hash this out, come to an agreement, and pass a budget that I think all of us would be very proud of.' 'The work is still ongoing,' said State Representative Adam Anderson, R-Palm Harbor. 'We still need to get our budget done, it's the one thing that we're constitutionally required to do when the legislature meets and we're still working on that. It's a process that involves a little bit of a shift from where we've been in the past.' So, what's the hold up? According to lawmakers, it's the tax reform package.'We're trying to decide, you know, the tax package,' DiCeglie said. 'There are sales tax elements to it. We've got sales tax holidays that are element.' DiCeglie said they want to tackle this issue carefully and make sure that two, three years down the road, they aren't putting future legislatures in a position to have to raise taxes. House members agree, hoping this time around they can shift the narrative of past sessions, saying it's not just about the year ahead.'Whenever we go through a change from what the status quo is, you know, sometimes it could look a little bit messy from the outside, but everyone's on the same page to be able to get to the arrival point,' Anderson said. 'There might be a little difference of opinion of how we get there, but those things are getting flushed out and the conversations are ongoing.' The governor continues to flag major issues with budget delays, saying budget delays are already affecting Floridians back home from getting sales tax relief — like his 2nd Amendment tax holiday, a hurricane preparation sales holiday, and a boater fuel sales tax.'You only have one job, one real job in the legislature, and that's to do the appropriations and the budget,' DeSantis members extended the budget deadline until June 6, which is only one week away. So, can they pass a budget before then? Some lawmakers are not too hopeful, waiting for the governor to step in. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
CBS News
25-05-2025
- Business
- CBS News
Will a budget deal be reached? Sen. Shevrin Jones on when there might be an agreement
Florida state budget The Florida Legislature has one responsibility – to pass a budget. But the 60-day session has come and gone, and legislators are nowhere close to a budget deal. Jim talks to State Senator Shevrin Hones about that, and when there might be a budget agreement. Guest: State Sen. Shevrin Jones/D-South Florida About this issue DeSantis' second-to-last legislative session in Tallahassee has been defined by interparty squabbles that spilled out into the open, as the Legislature's GOP leaders sparred with each other and openly defied the term-limited governor. Over the 60-day regular session, members of DeSantis' own party launched an investigation into the signature initiative of his wife, first lady Casey DeSantis, accused a key ally of the governor of criminal conspiracy and advanced measures aimed at reining in his administration. Despite enjoying a GOP supermajority in both chambers, legislative leaders failed to pass the one bill Florida law requires, the state budget, ahead of the scheduled end of the regular session on Friday. Instead, lawmakers ran out the clock, dragging their negotiations into the night before announcing a budget framework shortly before 10 p.m. Friday.
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Florida Gov. DeSantis targets ‘bloated' local budgets in property tax slash push
With Florida lawmakers now in overtime trying to settle a state budget, the prime source of financing for many cities and counties could soon be headed for the chopping block. In whatever budget deal is decided by the Legislature, Gov. Ron DeSantis wants included some kind of commitment to rolling back property taxes – now or through a ballot question put before voters next year. He's been amplifying claims that rising home values are giving many communities a windfall of property tax dollars that are translating into big spending and bloated bureaucracies. 'Yes — and they don't lower the assessments when the housing market declines. Heads they win, tails you lose,' DeSantis recently posted on X. The governor ratcheted up his pitch May 20 in a podcast that he opened with the question, 'Do you ever own your own home?' He went on, 'You have to continue writing a check to the government, every year, just for the privilege of being able to use property that you supposedly already own.' DeSantis and the Republican-controlled Legislature have steadily targeted local governments over the past few years with legislation limiting their ability to tax and regulate. Some of it reflects a nationwide trend of red state governments looking to stamp out any sign of blue-leaning local policies. But slashing property taxes takes this drive to another level. No state has yet eliminated property taxes and in Florida they are the biggest source of dollars for 51 of 67 counties and almost half of the state's 411 cities. Property taxes have been part of Florida since 1839, even before statehood. A territorial enactment provided a tax 'on every acre of first-rate land, half a cent; on every acre of second-rate land, one quarter cent; on every acre of third-rate land, one-eighth of a cent.' Now, even some Republican lawmakers acknowledge the effort may not be as simple as DeSantis portrays it. Crafting an across-the-board cut would eliminate dollars which governments rely on for dozens of needed services. Rep. Dean Black, a Jacksonville Republican and former Duval County GOP chair, called property taxes 'a profound and indispensable source of revenue' for financing police and fire protection. He even worried that some communities might respond by 'defunding' law enforcement. Still, DeSantis sees it one way. 'Rising property values — and the increase in revenue due to increased assessments — have become a piggy bank for local governments to use to increase spending,' DeSantis said in another X post. Data shows that Florida's previously red-hot housing market has certainly yielded a bounty of property tax collections. More than $55 billion in property taxes flowed to counties, cities, school boards and Florida's special districts last year – more than double what was collected in 2014. Moreover, it's 46% higher than the amount taken in statewide just four years ago, state records show. But while tax receipts rose 13% in each of 2022 and 2023, last year's 8% rise reflected that house prices and sales were falling or at least leveling off. Even the smaller increase shows Florida is still growing. And along with more tax dollars, the demand for government services also may be increasing in these swelling cities and counties. But state Sen. Blaise Ingoglia, R-Spring Hill, who joined DeSantis for his recent podcast recorded in the governor's Capitol office, said local governments are mostly just spending. 'They are taking that extra money, they're not even being anywhere near frugal with the money. They're just expanding government,' Ingoglia said. DeSantis earlier proposed sending $1,000 checks this year to Floridians with a homestead exemption. But that idea drew no interest in the Legislature. In a shift, DeSantis said on his podcast that wiping out property taxes on homesteaded properties could be replaced with $300 million in state funds. DeSantis said he had 'run the numbers' on this concept. Beyond that, replacing property taxes with any other local levy looks up in the air. When lawmakers return to the Capitol in coming days to continue work on the state budget, the fate of the governor's proposal is worth watching in a Legislature where he's been clashing with House Speaker Daniel Perez, R-Miami, over a range of policy areas. Perez has formed a Select Committee on Property Taxes, which is expected to meet off-and-on into the fall to come up with proposals for the 2026 Legislature. Property tax rates vary by the city and county. But most experts say tax rates aren't rising dramatically. Instead, governments are getting increased tax revenues when homes are reassessed at the time of sale or improvements. Most homeowners who stay in their homes aren't getting hit by huge tax reassessments, analysts say. Instead, home sales are a big driver of the revenue flowing into local government coffers – some of it from the influx of new residents. DeSantis often touts those new residents as an affirmation of his leadership. Some communities, especially small cities, rely almost exclusively on property taxes for dollars. Other locations, including Orlando and Sarasota, have more diverse revenue sources and property taxes amount to less than 15% of their revenue. Counties also are across the board. Palm Beach, Volusia and Leon counties draw more than one-third of their dollars from property taxes, while Miami-Dade, Okaloosa and Sarasota counties collect less than 20% of revenue from the levies. Kurt Wenner, a senior vice-president of research at Florida TaxWatch, the business-backed research organization, said most Floridians aren't facing significant property tax increases, because of a range of safeguards built into the system. Among them is the state's Save our Home law, which limits assessment increases for people living in a primary residence to no more than 3% annually. 'If you're just living in your house, and you're not doing anything with it, your taxes are not really going up much,' Wenner said. But there are exceptions – sometimes, voter-approved tax increases. TaxWatch research shows that 13 property tax referenda for schools, worth $632 million in annual tax revenue, were approved by voters last year. Since 2010, 122 school property tax referenda, worth $4.2 billion in annual tax revenue, have been approved. Last year, 18 bond issues, to be paid back using property taxes, also were approved across Florida, TaxWatch found. Local governments are fueled by property taxes at varying degrees. And this could play a role in what kind of opposition emerges if a November 2025 ballot measure is put before voters on property taxes. The Republican Party of Florida has become a DeSantis ally in the push for property tax relief. A ballot measure, which would need at least 60% approval, could prove a vote-driver in Florida during the presidential midterm elections. But government service organizations, including police and fire unions, are likely to be wary of any proposed cuts. What side voters end up on may depend on how their community is spending their tax dollars. DeSantis, though, sees only good things by erasing property taxes: 'I think it would cause the state to boom,' he said. John Kennedy is a reporter in the USA TODAY Network's Florida Capital Bureau. He can be reached at jkennedy2@ or on X at @JKennedyReport. Across the state, the role property taxes play in keeping local governments afloat varies. Here are Florida cities and counties which rely most and least on property taxes. Percent is share of total revenue. (Source: Office of Economic and Demographic Research, State of Florida) Cities most dependent on property taxes Bay Lake 98.3% Lake Buena Vista 97.4% Weeki Wachee 90.2% Lazy Lake 79.7% Sea Ranch Lakes 79.2% Indian Creek 77.6% Indiantown 76.9% Belleair Shore 74.6% Orchid 69.3% Ocean Ridge 67.9% Cities least dependent Apopka 11% Orlando 11.7% Plant City 12.6% Port Orange 13.1% Holly Hill 13.1% Dade City 13.1% Sarasota 13.2% Orange Park 13.5% Ocoee 13.8% Clermont 14.2% Most dependent counties Flagler 47.27% Nassau 44.17% Sumter 39.89% Martin 38.36% St. Lucie 38.26% Palm Beach 36.6% Volusia 34.54% Seminole 33.82% Putnam 33.75% Leon 33.4% Least dependent counties Liberty 12.8% Union 16.15% Miami-Dade 16.52% Okaloosa 18.58% Sarasota 18.91% Holmes 20.1% Charlotte 21.55% Manatee 21.82% Calhoun 21.86 Marion 22.92% This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Amid deadlock on budget, DeSantis pushes to cut property taxes
