Business owners nationwide remain confused and uncertain about President Donald Trump’s tariff policies. Similarly, city officials and leaders of arts groups in Florida remain confused and uncertain about the Legislature’s tax policies.
The annual, 60-day legislative session had been scheduled to end last Friday. House and Senate leaders, however, have acknowledged that the session will go longer because of significant differences over taxes and next year’s budget.
House Speaker Daniel Perez, R-Miami, wants to cut the state sales tax rate from 6% to 5.25%. The House passed a budget that is roughly $1.5 billion below the Senate plan. Perez wants to cut “pathological overspending.” The current budget is $116.5 billion.
According to House calculations, Perez’s plan would provide roughly $5 billion in permanent tax savings. The Senate plan would provide roughly $2.1 billion in savings, but only about $1 billion would be permanent. Senate President Ben Albritton is focused on targeted sales tax cuts. Either approach likely would mean less money for cities.
Meanwhile, Gov. Ron DeSantis wants to eliminate property taxes. The Senate bill calls for a study, which would offer Tallahassee the chance to put the issue on the 2026 ballot.
The extended session and conflicting views on such fundamental issues come as cities are preparing to hold budget meetings. Delray Beach has had two. The new council wanted an earlier review than in previous years.
The state budget takes effect July 1. Because their fiscal year doesn’t begin until Oct. 1, cities, counties and school districts thus know what they expect in revenue from Tallahassee and can budget accordingly. If the session goes way long, cities will have less time to prepare.
Difficult as the Legislature may make planning for next year, the long-term potential is much worse. Ending property taxes would mean the loss of $43 billion—property taxes provide the main source of revenue for local budgets. The most logical way to make up that revenue would be to raise the sales tax. Perez, though, wants to go in the opposite direction.
Then last week, Arts Garage Director Marjorie Waldo emailed to warn of a new threat. The House wants to change how counties spend money from the 6% tax on hotel and motel rooms. Currently, it goes mostly to tourism promotion through county commissions. Many recipients are arts groups. The House wants commissions to devote at least 75% of the revenue to property tax relief by 2027.
Waldo said the change would cost Arts Garage, which drew 30,000 attendees last year and put on 300 performances, classes and community meetings, $200,000 a year. That would be on top of the $70,500 Arts Garage lost this year when DeSantis vetoed the entire $32 million statewide arts grant program because of one grant application he didn’t like.
Predicting a resolution is harder than normal. DeSantis and Perez are at odds over many issues. DeSantis wants to position his wife for a gubernatorial run next year and himself for a second presidential run in 2028.
I’ll have more as the session goes on. And on.
Boca city manager looks to get ahead of preemption of CRAs
Preemption is the term cities use to describe the Legislature’s attacks on home rule—the principle that local governments should make local decisions.
Increasingly, Tallahassee has preempted local governments by allowing the state to make those decisions. Last week, City Manager George Brown asked the city council to preempt any preemption this year of community redevelopment agencies.
Brown wanted the council to extend the life of the CRA, which Boca Raton created in 1980 to eradicate downtown blight, from 2039 to 2043. Four years might not seem like much, but the added time will help with financial projections and will “let them finish that work,” Brown said of the agency that is part of the city but has its own budget and goals.
The council needed to act by May 1, Brown said, because of potential changes in state legislation. Those changes might freeze the timeline for CRAs and, more important, prevent them from taking on any new projects. Delray Beach’s CRA is already scheduled to last until 2044. The city could then extend its expiration until 2045, which would meet the limit under the proposed state bills.
As with so much in Tallahassee, the legislation is in flux. But Tallahassee can’t undo what the council did.
Boca and Delray respond to DeSantis’ DOGE
Speaking of Tallahassee interference, Boca Raton and Delray Beach have responded to the first letter from DeSantis’ Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a knockoff of what Trump is doing at the federal level.
Not surprisingly, both cities reported no “instances of financial emergency or distress” in the previous five years. That was the only information demanded in the March 18 letter. Also not surprisingly, DOGE wants more.
A second letter on March 26 demands a broad look at spending. The state wants all “budgets, broken down by fund type and expenses.” Because the letter is also going to state universities, the demand includes all “staffing, budgets and functions of administrative offices and administrator roles;” “facility usage reports;” “course codes;” and “the closure and dissolution of DEI programs and activities.”
According to the letter, more “detailed requests” are coming. Critics note that the governor seeks this financial MRI of other agencies as he refuses to provide information about Hope Florida, the charity his wife operates. Hope Florida somehow received $10 million from a state Medicaid settlement. That money then went to political committees fighting last year’s marijuana amendment that DeSantis opposed.
I’ll have more when Boca Raton and Delray Beach respond to the latest—and perhaps not last—letter.
Boca and Delray residents to receive discounts on flood insurance
When they aren’t worrying about Tallahassee, Boca Raton and Delray Beach are trying to save residents money.
This month, both cities announced that efforts to reduce damage from flooding have secured new ratings from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Those ratings qualify policyholders in the federal flood insurance program for bigger discounts than they already were getting.
FEMA maintains a community rating system, with 1 being the highest and 10 the lowest. The more actions cities take, the better the rating and the higher the discount.
Boca Raton moved up two categories, from 7 to 5. City residents thus get a 25% discount on policies through the National Flood Insurance Program. Those discounts take effect Oct. 1. City Manager Terrence Moore said Delray Beach had improved to a 6 ranking, which brings a 20% discount.
Both cities took similar actions. Among other things, they ensured that the stormwater system is working well. They emphasized retention of open space, which improves drainage, through sensible development. They prioritize resilience to deal with rising seas.
Those efforts become more important as recent hurricanes show more damage from water, not just wind. Standard hurricane policies don’t cover rising water. Even residents who aren’t in flood zones should consider getting coverage.
FL Sen. Lori Berman takes over as Florida Senate’s Democratic minority leader
FL Sen. Lori Berman, who represents Delray Beach, West Delray and parts of Boca Raton, last week became the Democratic minority leader in the Florida Senate.
It happened when Jason Pizzo quit the party and became an independent. In so doing, he called the Democratic Party “dead.” He could fix it, Pizzo declared, but the party won’t let him.
Berman thus will preside over a caucus of just 11 in the 40-member Senate, almost a complete reversal of decades ago when Democrats held a 31-9 advantage. Gerrymandering and demographic changes have swung the balance.
Berman, who served previously in the House, is more of a workhorse than the show horse Pizzo. She leaves office next year because of term limits. Boca Raton City Councilwoman Yvette Drucker has filed to run for the District 30 seat.
Continuance on Randy Fine hearings
I wrote last week that the Florida Commission on Ethics was set to hold hearings on alleged violations by Randy Fine, whom DeSantis wanted to become president of Florida Atlantic University and who this month won a seat in Congress. Those hearings were continued from Thursday.
