by Christine Sexton, Florida Phoenix
The House on Friday voted, 78-29, to pass a $5 billion tax relief package, with most of the opposition involving changes to the collection of tourist development dollars.
While it was a mostly partisan vote in support, the bill faces opposition from Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has pushed for the elimination of property taxes and a $1,000 homeowner rebate, and Senate President Ben Albritton who has rolled out a more modest tax relief package.
Disagreement over the breadth of tax relief is a primary reason the Legislature is unlikely to pass a state budget within the 60-day legislative session, scheduled to end on May 2.
HB 7033 sponsor Rep. Wyman Duggan called the proposed tax reduction historic.
“It’s record-breaking. It’s historic. It’s permanent. It’s immediate. Every citizen in the state will benefit from it,” he said.
Specifically, the bill would lower Florida’s state sales tax rate by 0.75%, to 5.25%. The bill would reduce all other sales tax rates by the same amount: commercial rent from 2% to 1.25%, electricity from 4.35% to 3.6%, new mobile home purchases from 3% to 2.25%, and coin-operated amusement machines from 4% to 3.25%.
Starving fiscally constrained counties?
Most of the criticism on the floor centered around the changes to the tourist development tax, known as the “hotel bed tax.” Florida law authorizes counties to levy five separate tourist development taxes for specified purposes, all of which are generally related to the tourism industry.
These taxes cover a bevy of uses — financing stadiums, operating convention centers, funding tourism development councils, and promoting publicly owned zoological parks, among them.
These are levied in 62 of the state’s 67 counties with total combined rates ranging from a low of 2% to a high of 6%, according to a legislative analysis of the bill.
HB 7033 redirects the use of tourist development taxes away from tourism-related efforts to the county’s general revenue coffers instead. The bill directs the funds to be used to offset county property taxes beginning in 2026.
Rep. Allison Tant, who represents parts of Leon, Jefferson, and Madison counties, said the tax receipts are vital to those counties, none of which offer the beaches that beckon so many tourists to Florida. Rather, those counties rely on bed taxes to market the wonder of rural Florida — the “part of our state you don’t see in fancy brochures on the turnpike or inexpensive ads on TV.”
“Pulling tourism development tax dollars from this effort will not just further starve fiscally constrained counties, but also punish them for their self-sufficiency,” Tant said.
It’s record-breaking. It’s historic. It’s permanent. It’s immediate. Every citizen in the state will benefit from it. – Rep. Wyman Duggan
While he has the support of his chamber, Perez’s ambitious $5 billion reduction doesn’t have the support of his counterpart, Senate President Albritton. The disagreement is a major reason the House and Senate couldn’t agree on the total dollar amount in spending for the state fiscal year 2025-26, and they won’t pass a spending plan before the end of the 60-day session.
Albritton is on board with tax relief, but he has floated a more modest $2.1 billion tax plan, centered around a permanent elimination of the sales tax on clothing and shoes costing $75 or less. Other parts of his plan include a permanent reduction in the business rent tax from 2% to 1%, a one-time credit for vehicle registration fees, and several sales tax holidays.
DeSantis opposes the House plan, but not because of the price tag. The governor has proposed his own $5 billion cut, starting with providing homeowners a $1,000 property tax rebate. From there, DeSantis wants to permanently eliminate property taxes, which would take voter approval and couldn’t be done before November 2026.
Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Michael Moline for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com.
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