09/17/2026
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States across the U.S. are considering cutting property taxes—a move that would benefit wealthy homeowners while making it harder for lower-income Americans to buy a house, Annie Lowrey argues. https://theatln.tc/5DWnYLF8
The most radical of such proposals will be considered by Florida voters this November. “Amendment 3, popularly known as ‘Save Our Homes,’ would raise the ‘homestead’ exemption on owner-occupied properties in the state from $50,000 to $250,000, meaning a couple with a condo with an assessed value of $400,000 would pay their county’s property-tax rate on $150,000 of their home’s value, rather than on $350,000,” Lowrey writes. “The amendment would eliminate levies on more than half of dwellings. In time, Florida legislators want to phase out property taxes on owner-occupied homes entirely.”
Tenants are “the loser in all this,” Ken Johnson, a professor of finance at the University of Mississippi, told Lowrey. “Many cities and counties offset lower taxes on owner-occupied properties with higher taxes on commercial residential properties,” Lowrey continues. “Landlords pass those costs on to their renters. The policy will also benefit longtime homeowners at the expense of prospective homebuyers. Low property taxes increase home prices, making it harder for people without a lot of money in the bank—such as new parents and just-married couples—to get approved for a mortgage.”
Additionally, municipalities are expected to make budget cuts to account for the lost revenue, Lowrey writes. “Amendment 3 explicitly protects tax-financing streams for schools, meaning that cities and counties are contemplating draconian budget” reductions for public-safety offices, after-school programs, public transit, homeless shelters, and more, she continues. “What is being framed as a populist fight for affordability is in reality a form of class and generational warfare.”
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🎨: The Atlantic. Sources: Shutterstock; Getty.
