Governor Ron DeSantis’ recent property tax proposal would be a dream come true for Fernandina Beach City property and business owners and the City Commission’s worst nightmare.
Desantis wants to get rid of property taxes in Florida via a ballot initiative in 2026. Both the city and county would have to scramble to seek new sources of revenues.
If it is passed expect a massive increase in the number of overtaxed blue state refugees from New York, New Jersey, California, etc. flocking here.
The popular Republican governor’s proposal would save property and business owners thousands of dollars annually and have the left-leaning, free-spending Fernandina City Commission frantically seeking new ways to fleece residents so they can continue buying shiny new things, hire more employees, and purchase more non-performing assets such as mosquito-infested marshlands.
DeSantis made the announcement at a news conference this week in Ocala while he was announcing a project to widen Interstate 75 in central Florida. He said that his administration is doing analyses and a study, but there’d eventually be something on the ballot concerning property taxes.
He compared homeowners paying property tax to renters, saying that they’re “basically paying rent to live on their own property.”
A 60% vote of both chambers of the Legislature would be required to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot.
“That is going to give Floridians an opportunity to vote themselves relief from what property taxes have done to them,” DeSantis said. “So people are really getting pinched by property taxes and especially the elderly on fixed incomes. It’s like they bought land; they bought a house. Many of them paid off a mortgage because they didn’t buy their home outright.”
According to the non-partisan, nonprofit Tax Foundation, Florida is ranked 31st nationally for property taxes as a percentage of owner-owned housing value. The 2022 effective rate was 0.71% of a property’s value, compared to New Jersey where the effective property tax rate is 2.08%.
A nonprofit organization called Florida Policy Institute came out against DeSantis’ proposal, saying that it would weaken local governments and require $2,015 per capita ($43 billion) in new revenue to make up the loss in property tax revenue for counties and municipalities.
According to data, property taxes represent 8% of county revenue, 17% of municipal revenue and 50% to 60% of school district revenue.
The governor, who signed an executive order creating the state’s own Department of Government Efficiency, said there are some local governments flush with increased property tax revenues that aren’t taking good care of taxpayer funds. Think Fernandina Beach.
“People are getting taxed to high heaven, particularly on property taxes, which is another thing we’re going to give relief on because you buy a home for $250,000 and then 10 years later, someone assesses it at $800,000,” DeSantis said. “Even if you have homestead (exemption), you’re still paying more, and it can’t protect you against all that.”
***
Next Priority Item: Next on the governor’s to-do list should be a forensic investigation into the abuse of illegal impact fees.
Twice courts have declared that Fernandina Beach’s impact fees do not comply with state law resulting in suits that gave back $3 million in refunds to local businesses and cost taxpayers $1 million in legal costs.
The law requires that unused fees must be returned to those who paid them.
Former City Attorney Tammi Bach’s only defense for defending the city’s ongoing impact fee extortion racket was a hired consultant’s advice scribbled on a napkin following the last court’s ruling against the city. He recommended to Bach that the city change the name from “impact” to “capacity” fee. That’s what she did, and the extortion continues unabated.
By the way, where is that napkin? If it’s a city contract, shouldn’t it be available to the public?
***
Democrat Body Count: Illegal aliens absolutely do impact who controls the U.S. House of Representatives and the presidency even if they can’t and don’t vote. That’s why Democrats encouraged 10-13 million or more to swarm across our border during the Biden administration.
Illegals are counted in the U.S. Census, which determines both the apportionment of seats in the House of Representatives and the number of electoral votes given to each state.
They came because four years ago the two Democrat hand puppets in the White House – Joe Biden and Kamala Harris – prompted them to “surge to the border” where they were provided asylum and protected in blue-states offering sanctuary status. As enticements the Democrats made sure they knew they would receive “free” health care, “free” cell phones, “free” housing and more.
A disproportionate number these illegal aliens go to blue states where they are protected by Democrats. Studies reveal that Democrats would lose approximately 20 seats in the House if illegals were not counted in the census. That’s 20 less electoral votes for president. Whoever was running the Biden White House planned the illegal invasion as directed by the Democrat party.
The Democrats don’t care if they are murderers, rapists, illiterate, child molesters, drug dealers, disease-ridden, or insane. They just want them for a census body count no matter the body count of U.S. citizens.
***
News Wrecker: The 2025 edition of the always accurate, timely, and highly respected Amelia Island News Wrecker is currently available at local bars, restaurants, shops, and any other local enterprise willing to provide their clients a chuckle with their purchases.
This year’s issue contains the truth behind Elon Musk’s purchase of Amelia Island, lighting striking only at Fernandina City Hall during City Commission sessions, and a fourth grader outing his CIA father at Show & Tell.
If you can’t find an issue, then for the reasonable fee of just $19.95 one will be mailed to you. Simply write to the address printed in the issue you can’t find or ask a friend lucky enough to have found a couple of free copies.
***
Imagine That? When I was employed by large corporations, I was provided a job description outlining what was expected of me. Many times, I was required to submit a weekly or monthly report to the manager of my function detailing my progress on various assignments. At the end of each year, I was evaluated on how well I performed those tasks.
When I eventually assumed management and executive positions I continued to be evaluated, just as I evaluated the progress of those reporting to me. I didn’t whine, protest, threaten to unionize the place, shoot up the joint, or go over the head of my supervisor to complain about my evaluations. The system worked and was fair.
Federal government employees being asked to outline “five things they accomplished in the past week” should view that as an opportunity to boast about their accomplishments and stand out among their peers. Instead, they whine, gnash their teeth, and complain to the media or anyone else that will listen to them.
Complainers and whiners inadvertently identify themselves as the “losers,” toxic employees that negatively infect others with their poisonous attitudes. They should be fired immediately. Productive employees likely cheer their dismissal since they no longer will be expected to carry the loser’s load and listen to their water cooler whining.
Musk’s DOGE house cleaning is being vocally and silently applauded by many dedicated government employees. Once all the deadbeats and whiners are cleaned out morale and productivity will skyrocket, resulting in a more efficient and effective organization. Where am I going wrong here?
***
Things I Wish I’d Said: “If printing money would end poverty, printing diplomas would end stupidity. — Javier Milei, President of Argentina
***
Speaking Of Stupid: “Who’s really being removed by ICE tonight?” the disheveled obese leftwing filmmaking slob Michael Moore asked in a blog post published this past Tuesday: “The child who would’ve discovered the cure for cancer in 2046? The 9th-grade nerd who would’ve stopped that asteroid that’s gonna hit us in 2032? Do we care?” he wrote.
In a statement Thursday the White House’s Alexandra Marshall correctly labeled Moore’s comment: “…. a strong contender for dumbest statement of the year,”
Moore failed to mention the possible future contributions of Americans that died at the hands of illegal alien murderers or of those aborted by Planned Parenthood.
***
Speaking Of Whiners & Losers: Black Lives Matter activist and local Jimmy Olson wannabe Mike Lednovich posted a notice in the sight-impaired online Fernandina Observer seeking to interview some of the losers who were “laid off due to actions by the Trump administration and Elon Musk’s DOGE?” His online request said: “The Fernandina Observer is seeking to hear from affected federal employees in Amelia Island/Nassau County, Florida. If you or someone you know has been impacted by these firings, we want to share your story. Please contact us at LednovichObserver@gmail.com to help shed light on how these changes are affecting you and our community. Confidentiality will be respected upon request. Please include your contact information in the email.”
If you think this pretend journalist is planning on writing a balanced story about how the Trump administration is attempting to save taxpayer money and make the federal government more efficient, then I have some stuff in my attic you may want to buy. Does anyone reading this think he’ll ask to interview those responsible for the functions and why they’re laying off the losers or that he plans on writing a fair story?
Lednovich and the Observer are examples of why a recent You.Gov survey story this week blared bad news for the media. The poll’s headline said, “More Americans trust the Trump administration than trust the media for fair, full, and accurate facts.” The local print News Leader is no better.
The removal of property takes is a grand ideal but it is my belief this will never pass in Florida. Too many government politicians are seeing this as an end to their cash cow and will fight tooth and nail to preserve their slush funds. It is late in the final term of DeSantis to be pushing this ideal. His wife is a viable candidate to replace him but will have to take on a current Representative Bryon Donald’s and shyster attorney John Morgan among others. I just wish DeSantis had brought this up in his first term.
Ron’s proposal to eliminate property tax in the state makes a sensational headline but is not realistic. The replacement revenue would have to come from an increase in sales tax which is even more burdensome to lower income people as well as less predictable. Without replacement revenue there would have to be major cuts in vital services and school operations. FL already has strong homeowners tax relief in the Save Our Homes valuation increase caps for those in their primary residence. All for eliminating waste, but such a cut would kill the patient.
Property Taxes – DeSimps throws out an idea with no strategic plan to replace whatever the truly needed revenues are – what’s the needed increase in tourist taxes ? It it viable ? Increased sales taxes are not the answer
Dave:
Might be good to start thinking about DeSantis’ idea a little differently; the times they are a changin. All governments share one major financial deficiency. None have a balance sheet. That fuels governments’ tendency to accumulate assets like real estate with no accountability. Donald is approaching that challenge with his “sovereign wealth fund” capitalized with the feds’ non and underperforming assets. Shakedown City has a lot of that stuff too. There’s a great book out on the subject by Dag Detter and Stefan Foster titled “The Public Wealth of Cities; How to Unlock Hidden Assets to Boost Growth and Prosperity”. I’ll email you a copy of my book review. By the way, Detter and Foster’s books are available on Amazon and they have written a couple of others on the topic.
Went by Lowes this morning to get some garden soil. I asked the lady helping me if they were busy. She said, I’ve watered all the plants, swept the aisles, repriced the roses, stocked the fertilizer and have helped customers like you load.
1 million Government bureaucrats: ” I got nothing”
Trump, Musk, and DeSantis are challenging traditional norms. The phrase “it’s always been done that way” leads to complacency. We need more creativity and quicker decision-making in government. With instant information dissemination, our decision-making must improve. Sometimes, restructuring a bureaucratic system by breaking it is necessary. If measurements for the decisions don’t meet the standard “Better” “Faster” or “Cheaper” it’s probably not worth doing. Is everything going to go smoothly – NO! Observe and document those who resist change versus those who step up to embrace and enhance it.
Even LOWER property taxes would help a lot!!
We stopped getting the mullet wrapper. We now get The Yulee News, so nice to have articles written by adults. As usual Dave SPOT ON!!
Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency has deleted hundreds more claims from its mistake-plagued “wall of receipts,” erasing $4 billion in additional savings that the group said it had made for U.S. taxpayers.
Joining in the fun and trashed a couple stacks of News Wrecker today. Feels good!
An interesting read: https://edition.cnn.com/interactive/2025/03/politics/transcript-speech-trump-congress-annotated-dg/
Pray tell, was President Trump saved by G-D so that he could carry out his perceived mandate or is this all just the start of the downfall of America?
Yes, the world is beginning to tire of Trump’s whiplash leadership!