Anthony Rodriguez, Florida lawmakers discuss elimination of property taxes

So, apparently, there was a secret summit in Westchester last night about the proposed elimination of property taxes. At least, that’s what it feels like. Because unless you’re on Miami-Dade Commission Chairman Anthony Rodriguez’s Christmas card list, you probably didn’t even know about it.
Rodriguez quietly gathered some heavy hitters — state lawmakers, county officials, “subject matter experts” (read: Miami-Dade Chief Budget Officer David Clodfelter) — at the Westchester branch library’s Health & Wellness Center to talk about blowing up the property tax system in Miami-Dade. Because eliminating property taxes is all the rage in Florida’s political circles.
This has taken on a whole new life since Gov. Ron DeSantis proposed putting the elimination of all state property taxes on the 2026 ballot — because it would have to be a constitutional amendment.
The chairman told Political Cortadito that Monday’s meeting of the minds was a basically an effort to educate the Miami-Dade legislative delegation on the consequences that eliminating property taxes would have on core county services. At a time when the county, after much hand-wringing, closed a $402-million budget hole, while still spending millions on community based organizations and subsidized transit, state lawmakers had questions: What exactly is the county funding? Is there a better way? How do we pay for cops, parks, and potholes without a property tax bill?
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“I think it was healthy for our Dade delegation members to understand what services couldn’t be cut, like the sheriff, fire, transportation, parks,” Rodriguez said. His question to them was how would ad valorem property tax funds be replaced. “Is it going to be a sales tax?” And if so, does that mean the sales tax will increase?
He said options were discussed, such as extending homestead exemptions for anyone owning a home for more than 20 years or over 65, which Miami-Dade Property Appraiser Tomas Regalado has also championed, and ending the trigger on higher tax assessments for inherited properties.
Even in the city of Miami, the mayoral candidates are discussing tax relief as part of their platform.
But there were no real replacement proposals or solutions offered Monday by the state legislators, who have just begun to meet in committee on this idea.
“I don’t think they’re there yet,” Rodriguez told Ladra. “What they did not say was that they were looking at a full blown elimination of property taxes across the board. And that’s good.”
Don’t get the wrong idea. He said he wants to vote for that.
“I’d love to support that. I pay high taxes myself,” he said. “But I also want to see the grass cut and I don’t want to see garbage and filth on the corner when I drive my kids to school.”
Read related: Miami-Dade’s billion-dollar disconnect: Tax collector flush, county in the red
Among the panelists there Monday were Sen. Ana Maria Rodriguez, State Reps. Vicky Lopez and Toby Overdorf, co-chairs of the new Florida House Select Committee on Property Taxes, and State Reps. Omar Blanco, Juan Carlos Porras, Alex Rizo, Mike Redondo and Miami-Dade Tax Collector Dariel Fernandez, who is everywhere.
Blanco said it was an important meeting and he was glad to have heard directly from Clodfelter, director of the Office of Management and Budget. While there is a need to address affordability, he said, there was no intention to diminish services.
“I think that we all agreed that essential services need to be protected,” Blanco, a veteran firefighter and former fire union president, told Political Cortadito Tuesday.
“We don’t have a property tax relief issue; I think we have a property affordability issue,” Blanco said. “In the last five years, property values have doubled in South Florida. Nobody anticipated this.
“Elderly people, for the first time I can remember, are being forced out of their homes because they can’t afford living there,” he added.
Like Rodriguez, Blanco doesn’t think a blanket, one-size fits all elimination of ad valorem taxes will work. There are three municipalities in his district: Pinecrest, Palmetto Bay, and Cutler Bay. The latter two contract their police services from the county sheriff’s office. For Cutler Bay, the amounts to practically 100% of their ad valorem taxes. The rest of the services are paid with fees.
Rodriguez, who has also opened his arms to welcome the state DOGE into the county’s books, called the property tax system “long overdue for serious scrutiny.” He’s not wrong there. But if you’re going to start dreaming up “alternatives” for sustainable revenue, don’t you think the public ought to be in the room where it happens? The chairman said it was open to the public. But what public? Nobody seemed to know this was happening.
Read related: Anthony Rodriguez rolls out red carpet for state DOGE, calls it ‘collaboration’
At least it won’t be the last such gathering. It seems that the talks about eliminating property taxes and what might replace that — which could be special taxing districts or increased sales tax as well as discount services are just starting. And while Rodriguez has not necessarily been a beacon of public engagement at county commission meetings (#IAmCamila), he said that there would be plenty of opportunities for Miami-Dade residents to chime in.
After all, they are the people who are going to be chipping in, one way or another.

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