A plan for mid-April budget negotiations is still up in the air after legislators failed to agree on a budget during the regular session.
Senate President Ben Albritton said in a memo to senators Wednesday that there will be no agreement on the budget ahead of a special session scheduled to address congressional redistricting.
“Over the past few weeks, Chair Hooper and I have had productive discussions with our partners in the House on joint budget allocations,” Albritton wrote. “While I believe we are making great progress, it will not be necessary for you to return to Tallahassee prior to the special session called by Governor DeSantis. We will share a schedule for that special session as soon as possible. I’m grateful for everyone’s patience, understanding, and support as we work with our House partners to finalize joint allocations and develop our schedule for the budget conference. I look forward to seeing you soon.”
When the regular session wrapped up in March, there was still a $1.4 billion difference in the House and Senate budgets, according to an analysis by the Florida Chamber of Commerce.
Lawmakers will return to Tallahassee on April 20 to discuss the controversial move to redraw congressional redistricts mid-decade. Second-term Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis called for the special session to go until April 24.
Every day lawmakers spend in special sessions is a hit to taxpayers. While there’s no set dollar amount, a previous special session in Florida was estimated to cost approximately $50,000 per day, according to Senate documents.
The governor has also floated the idea of holding a special session to address property tax relief, but he has yet to issue an official proclamation to do so and some lawmakers aren’t sitting still waiting for that to happen.
After multiple property tax proposals failed to reach the legislative finish line, Rep. Ryan Chamberlin, R-Belleview, launched an effort to pass a citizen constitutional amendment to ban ad valorem taxes on real estate.
Chamberlin wrote on social media, “Property taxes are out of control and relief is overdue! The House was able to at least pass a relief bill, but the Senate wouldn’t have anything to do with it. We still have special sessions coming but … another option – bring this issue straight to the people.”
Municipalities get approximately 43% of their general fund revenue from property taxes, according to a study by Wichita State University. In Florida, property taxes have increased by nearly 40% in the last three years, bringing in almost $60 billion, according to Florida TaxWatch.
Some Democrats say eliminating property taxes would only drive up costs for local services.
