Florida homeowners are reaching a breaking point. While families on Main Street have spent the last few years tightening their belts, local governments have quietly loosened theirs—padding budgets, growing payrolls, and expanding spending as if there’s no limit to the taxpayer’s wallet.
The truth is simple: property taxes are not optional. You can skip a vacation. You can trim your grocery bill. You can cancel streaming subscriptions. But you cannot skip your property taxes—not without risking your home. That’s why real reform, like HJR 67, is not just a policy idea; it’s a moral imperative.
HJR 67 proposes to cut the Save Our Homes cap—the limit on how quickly your assessed value can rise each year—from 3% to 1.5%, or the rate of inflation, whichever is lower. On paper, it’s a technical tweak. In practice, it’s the difference between a retired couple keeping their home or being priced out by rising assessments they never agreed to.
But here’s the catch: relief without accountability is just kicking the can down the road.
The Real Problem Isn’t Homeowners—It’s Local Spending
The property tax crisis isn’t driven by families improving their homes or moving into nicer neighborhoods. It’s driven by local governments that refuse to live within their means.
From 2018 to 2023, Florida’s median home value skyrocketed by more than 60%, with some counties like Bay, Walton, and Hillsborough seeing double-digit annual increases in assessed values. Meanwhile, population growth over that same span averaged about 1.4% per year statewide, and inflation—despite pandemic spikes—has averaged roughly 3.2%. Yet local government budgets? They’ve ballooned far faster.
In counties across Florida, general fund expenditures have jumped 20–40% in just five years—often outpacing population and inflation combined. For example:
- Bay County’s property tax collections climbed more than 45% since 2018, while its population grew less than 10%.
- Leon County’s taxable value soared by over 50% between 2017 and 2023—fueling spending increases for new administrative positions and “community outreach” programs that few taxpayers even know exist.
- Miami-Dade County has increased its total budget by nearly $4 billion since 2020, while median household income barely rose 10%.
This is the heart of the problem: when values go up, local governments automatically rake in more money—even if they never “raise” the millage rate. The windfall comes quietly, without a single vote, under the radar of most homeowners until the bill arrives in the mail.
That’s why more and more Floridians describe property taxes as “rent to the government.” You can own your home outright, but if you don’t pay your property taxes, the government can still take it away. That’s not ownership—that’s servitude to bureaucracy.
The Local Surplus Illusion
Politicians love to talk about “tight budgets” and “tough decisions,” but the numbers tell a different story. Across Florida, counties are sitting on record reserves even as they claim they can’t afford tax relief.
According to the Florida Office of Economic and Demographic Research, local governments collectively hold over $10 billion in unrestricted general fund reserves. Many counties maintain reserves equal to 25–40% of annual expenditures—far above the recommended 10–15%.
Take Escambia County, for example. Despite residents facing steep property value hikes, the county held more than $90 million in reserves last fiscal year. Hillsborough County boasts over $600 million in unrestricted reserves, while Orange County’s rainy-day fund sits north of $1 billion.
Yet when taxpayers demand relief, they’re told there’s “no room” in the budget. It’s nonsense. The room exists—it’s just filled with bureaucratic growth, bloated administrative costs, and pet projects that expand government rather than protect taxpayers.
If local officials can find millions for new office expansions, “climate action plans,” and marketing campaigns, they can find room to ease the burden on the homeowners who pay their bills.
Relief Alone Isn’t Enough—We Need Accountability
HJR 67 is a vital step forward. It slows the runaway growth in assessed values that fuels government windfalls. But without a spending check, even this reform can be undermined by local officials who simply raise rates or fees to compensate.
That’s why Guardians of Liberty and grassroots leaders across Florida are calling for a broader reform package—one that doesn’t just cap the pain, but cures the disease.
We call it the Property Tax Reform & Spending Accountability Act.
This proposal goes beyond limiting assessments. It would require:
- Spending Growth Limits: Tie local government budget growth to population + inflation, preventing runaway spending disconnected from community needs.
- Transparency Dashboards: Every county would be required to maintain an online “Spending & Development Accountability Dashboard” showing how each tax dollar is spent, line by line, and whether budgets exceed the growth formula.
- Automatic Rollback Hearings: If a local government exceeds its growth limit, it must hold a public “rollback accountability hearing,” forcing elected officials to justify the increase directly to taxpayers.
- Citizen Oversight Panels: Local boards of citizens—appointed by community groups, not government—would review annual spending and issue public grades on fiscal responsibility.
- Reserve Caps: Require counties to maintain responsible but not excessive reserves—limiting slush funds that can quietly bankroll unchecked expansion.
This isn’t about “cutting services.” It’s about restoring sanity. When Floridians are forced to budget like never before, it’s only fair that government does too.
Main Street vs. Bureaucracy
Every dollar the government spends comes from someone who earned it. That retired couple in Pensacola. The single mom in Lakeland. The small business owner in Panama City trying to keep the lights on. These are the real Floridians footing the bill for unchecked local expansion.
When government grows faster than families’ paychecks, freedom shrinks.
It’s the same story in community after community: homeowners trimming expenses, while city halls hire “communications directors” to tell residents how great things are. Families making sacrifices while counties announce “record surpluses.” Parents skipping vacations while commissioners approve “strategic plans” for office renovations.
It’s not sustainable—and it’s not right.
If Florida is going to remain a beacon of opportunity and affordability, reform must mean more than temporary relief. It must restore the balance between those who pay and those who spend.
A Call to Action
HJR 67 deserves full legislative support. It’s the first step toward keeping Floridians in their homes and stopping the stealth tax increases that have quietly drained household budgets for years. But the next step—the accountability step—is just as essential.
It’s time to demand both relief and responsibility.
When local governments spend faster than inflation, when reserves swell while families struggle, when the system quietly profits from your rising home value—it’s not “just the way it works.” It’s a choice.
And choices can be changed.
Floridians deserve a government that serves them, not one that grows at their expense. We can have affordable communities, transparent budgets, and real accountability—but only if we demand it together.
Join us in demanding real reform—sign the petition today.
Together, we can make property tax relief permanent, spending transparent, and government truly accountable to the people it serves.
Because Florida homeowners deserve relief—not excuses.
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