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Florida Builders Rally for Property Tax Reform
More than 500 Florida builders, contractors and home building professionals marched to the state capitol in Tallahassee on April 24 in support of fair property tax reform and to urge state lawmakers not to tax housing out of existence.
“The future of Florida’s housing industry rests with meaningful property tax reform,” said John Wiseman, president of the Florida Home Builders Association (FHBA) and a builder from Sarasota. “Florida’s construction industry is in jeopardy of being taxed out of existence. When this happens, the American dream of homeownership will disappear for thousands of Floridians.”
The Florida home building industry is concerned that local governments will look to new residential construction to make up for the amount of revenue that they lose through property tax reform.
Impact fees on new home construction have already risen higher than $30,000 per single-family home in some locations in the state. Those costs are passed from home builders to home buyers, reducing the ability of Floridians to qualify to purchase a home.
“For every $1,000 increase in the price of a home, more than 25,000 Florida families will be priced out of qualifying to purchase that home,” said NAHB economist Elliot Eisenberg. “This economic trend is limiting home sales, diminishing new housing starts and significantly reducing vital revenue on which the state relies for its budget.”
“Fair property tax reform must include a firewall of protection that doesn’t shift the tax burden to new home buyers,” Wiseman said. “Without impact fee caps, there won’t be meaningful property tax reform.”
The Florida Home Builders Association supports impact fee caps to make housing affordable. Specifically, FHBA recommends the total amount of impact fees assessed on construction should be limited to no more than 5% of the value of the home. Currently, impact fees are the same for all homes regardless of the home price. This disproportionately impacts Floridians buying affordably priced workforce housing.
Furthermore, new home construction prices are the benchmark for existing home prices. When new home prices increase because of rising impact fees, existing home prices increase and raise property taxes for everyone.
Save the Date for the State and Local Government Affairs Conference
Mark you calendar for the State and Local Government Affairs Conference, which will be held Nov. 8-10 at the Hyatt Regency Austin in Austin, Texas.
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