Thrive
Property tax changes fuel local concerns in 2026
“There is no plan for how this lost revenue will be offset.”
Lawmakers have filed eight property tax reform proposals, despite Florida’s legislative session not officially commencing for another week. St. Petersburg officials are already preparing for any changes.
City Council Chair Lissette Hanewicz explained the process and potential $83 million fallout in a Dec. 10 letter to constituents. She and her colleagues approved Councilmember Mike Harting’s request to complete a related “budget stress test” the following day.
Harting said his undated committee discussion should identify subsequent budget impacts, “core competencies that should remain fiscally intact” and programs that “would need to be reduced or eliminated” following the loss of property tax revenue. Officials will “have to make some choices” if the proposed changes come to fruition.
“I think it’s prudent at this point for us to at least talk about it,” Harting said.
Multiple colleagues applauded the request. While state officials could “say a bunch of things and do nothing,” Councilmember Richie Floyd said the stress test is still a useful exercise that would help inform residents.
Hanewicz said most people “do not understand the huge impact” a reduction in property tax revenue would “have on them personally, and the level of service they would receive from the city.” She believes it is crucial to “have those conversations sooner rather than later.”
Gov. Ron DeSantis has championed efforts to reduce or eliminate property taxes, particularly on homesteaded properties that are primary residences. As of July 2024, 58% of 107,988 homes in St. Petersburg have that distinction.
A percentage of a homesteaded property’s value is exempt from taxes. The designation also caps the annual increase on assessed values and resulting tax bills.
“On the surface, it sounds appealing,” Hanewicz wrote in her letter. “Who wouldn’t like a lower tax bill? But think about it. Without property taxes, how do we continue to fund essential services …?”
She noted that 97.5% of property taxes collected by the city fund the police and fire departments. Those revenues only cover 91.6% of St. Petersburg’s public safety costs after excluding required contributions to three community redevelopment areas.
The city’s general fund, which also supports parks, roads, libraries, social services and all other government functions, covers the remaining 8.4%. “When we need our first responders, we need them. Period.” Hanewicz wrote.
“We need these services to be reliable, especially in tough times, and we need to fund them in a stable, predictable way that allows us to anticipate our revenue stress to plan for the future.”
Mayor Ken Welch’s administration has projected that St. Petersburg would lose $83 million in annual revenue if all homesteaded properties became exempt from taxes. Hanewicz said that money would otherwise fund the police and fire departments.
All current proposals prohibit local governments from reducing funding for law enforcement. The legislation would also exempt school-related property taxes.
Those carve-outs would not extend to fire rescue and other first-responders services, including money for 911 dispatchers and emergency medical technicians. “There is no plan for how this lost revenue will be offset,” Hanewicz wrote.
She added that the state’s Long-range Financial Outlook, released in September 2025, projects a budget deficit of $1.5 billion in Fiscal Year 2027-28. That number balloons to $6.6 billion in Fiscal Year 2028-29.
“Any proposal to reduce or eliminate property taxes will involve a cost – whether it is a reduction of services or a shifting of those costs,” Hanewicz wrote. “I don’t want to see slower emergency response times, deferred maintenance, fewer services or a diminished sense of safety in our community.”
Implementing property tax reforms will not come easily for state officials. The legislature must first approve a joint resolution by a three-fifths vote in the House and Senate.
Republicans have a supermajority in both Florida chambers, and most stakeholders believe the passage of a property tax reform bill is a foregone conclusion. However, at least 60% of voters must then approve a constitutional amendment at the ballot box in November.
Welch recently told the Catalyst that he will ask voters to approve a new property tax that will support a general obligation bond issuance. The financing mechanism will fund “$600 million in stormwater and water projects to make us the resilient city that we need to be,” he said.
“This is why it’s so important to stay informed and ask questions,” Hanewicz wrote. “Because if a proposed amendment succeeds, we’d need to identify new revenue sources to cover the cost of essential services for our community. You get what you pay for, which is why understanding the impact of these proposals is important, especially when the ‘math isn’t mathing.’”
A graphic highlight how St. Petersburg allocates property tax revenues. Image: City documents.
joseph boone
January 6, 2026at5:43 pm
if you think your landlord is gonna lower your rent just because his tax bill went down? lol yeah right. he’s gonna pocket that savings and hit you with a “market adjustment” increase anyway. this is a massive handout to property owners and the working class won’t see a dime of it.
Bradley Cochran
January 6, 2026at4:24 pm
Love the idea of lower taxes… just wish someone had a clue about what gets dropped first when $80+ million disappears. 📉
Brandon Wright
January 6, 2026at9:54 am
Perhaps we don’t need a Fireman Santa Clause I know have to elaborate a Santa myth to my child about or 8 ambulances driven to every isolated incident? Perhaps the hotels need to pay for the essential services sent to tourists since that seems to be where the ambulances are always going to at the beach?
Mike Kosempa
January 5, 2026at8:01 pm
Good. The rug should be pulled out from underneath these people. Im not here to subsidize your housing. Im not here to subsidize your food. Im not here to subsidize you. St pete and most of florida has so much money they dont even know what to do with it.
What are they afraid of? Unpainted bike racks?
How about these fakes put their own money where their fake christian mouths are. You want to subsidize functioning, capable adults for political purposes? Fine. You can pay for it. Stop abusing the states monopoly on violence by stealing what we EARNED.
JAMES GILLESPIE
January 5, 2026at6:37 pm
kudos to council member hanewicz for contacting her district and council for pressing for a stress test of $83 million will be lost with a property tax change
Jeff Barnes
January 5, 2026at6:30 pm
Mayor Ken Welch uses “Police and Fire” as a shield to defend high taxes, implying the city is living paycheck-to-paycheck. Yet, his record of spending $80,000 on bands, $250,000 on illicit bonuses, and $300,000+ on new bureaucrats suggests the city actually has plenty of discretionary cash—it’s just being spent on politics and pageantry instead of tax relief.
Steven Sullivan
January 7, 2026at3:17 pm
Jeff Barnes that is not going to affect your tax bill like that. And there are non monetary benefits to what city’s do that benefit all on the backend. Like drive tourism that does drive increased tax collection on the commercial side. If we solely relied on resid e still you couldn’t get to your house because the infrastructure would be non existent. Get real the only one wanting something for nothing is you