The Florida Law Proposal That Would Change Property Taxes For Seniors
A legislator representing part of Miami-Dade County has proposed eliminating most property taxes for senior citizen homeowners throughout Florida. Called HJR 205, the bill would exempt people aged 65 and over from having to pay property taxes on everything but public schools for their primary homesteaded residence. And while this would mean a huge budget shortfall for cities and counties, they'd still be banned from making cuts on law enforcement budgets from the 2025-2026 and 2026-2027 fiscal years, whichever is greater.
"We have to trust in our elected leaders that they need to prioritize the needs and not just the wants, [and] that is public education, law enforcement, that is firefighters," State Representative Juan Carlos Porras of West Kendall, sponsor of bill HJR 205, told CBS New Miami.
Because Florida doesn't have a state income tax, state and local jurisdictions derive most of their revenue from sales and property taxes. Still, Florida provides homestead exemptions that can reduce the taxable value of primary residences by up to $50,000. The state constitution also gives counties and cities the option to grant another $50,000 reduction for homeowners aged 65 or over if, as of 2025, their adjusted income is below $37,694 as well as a complete property tax exemption for seniors below the income threshold if their home is also lower than $250,000 in value if they've lived there for more than 25 years. Yet even with these breaks, it's hard for Florida seniors to make ends meet.
Florida has been hard for locals (and seniors especially) to afford since the pandemic
The move to eliminate property tax for Florida seniors comes as the cost of living in the state remains high. Even though listed rents and property values dropped in 2025, Florida is still a much more expensive place to live in after the pandemic, thanks in large part to large numbers of high-income households relocating to the Sunshine State. Per a Florida Atlantic University poll, nearly half of Floridians have considered leaving due to the rising cost of living.
But aside from high rents (especially in the Miami and South Florida area) and taxes on property values that largely grew after 2020, Florida's home insurance rates have also skyrocketed, as fewer companies want to cover a state at risk of hurricane and flood disasters. This has made it very costly to buy a house in certain Florida cities. Indeed, the high insurance rates are a big reason retirees are leaving Florida and heading toward other states. And not making life in the Sunshine State any cheaper are high assessments that condo associations must levy on homeowners for upkeep if the buildings are taller than three stories and older than 30 years (or older than 25 years if the condo is three miles within a coastline).
South Florida senior homeowners Jose and Carmen Calleiro said that the proposal to eliminate property taxes would be a big financial relief for them. "We live on a fixed income, and if everything keeps going up and up for us, we won't be able to live," Carmen Calleiro told CBS News Miami.
HJR 205 isn't the only property tax exemption bill for homeowners
Representative Porras' bill isn't the only one that seeks to slash property taxes in the state. Multiple proposals have advanced in the Florida House of Representatives to cut taxes, per WUSF NPR. Seven of those bills, including HJR 205, will require 60% votes in favor in both Florida legislative chambers and the electorate before becoming law. They include HJR 207, which would add another 25% reduction of assessed taxable value after homestead exemptions; HJR 209, which would increase homestead exemptions by $100,000 for homes with property insurance; HJR 203, which aims to gradually phase out most property taxes for homesteaded properties over 10 years; and HJR 201, which would eliminate property taxes for everything except schools on homestead properties as of January 1, 2027.
According to the Florida Policy Institute, eliminating taxes on homesteaded properties would cost counties $7.8 billion and municipalities $3 billion in revenue needed to provide services. Removing property taxes for seniors alone would cause a shortfall of $6.7 billion on non-school revenue streams, per a Florida House of Representatives bill analysis. This would force local governments to "shift the burden" to renters and small businesses by raising fees and local taxes, Bartlow City Commissioner Trish Pfeiffer warned state lawmakers, per the Pensacola News Journal.