The 1997 Florida TaxWatch Turkey Watch: TaxWatch "Books" 49 Turkeys Worth $51.3 Million

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Florida TaxWatch Provides Analysis of the Governor’s Property Tax Amendment and Legislation, Recommends Florida Taxation and Budget Reform Commission Lead Debate

Florida TaxWatch Provides Analysis of the Governor’s Property Tax Amendment and Legislation, Recommends Florida Taxation and Budget Reform Commission Lead Debate

The Florida Legislature is meeting in special session to consider Governor DeSantis’ proposed constitutional amendment and linked legislation to provide significant property tax relief to Florida homeowners. The proposal has many provisions, but the main ones would increase the homestead exemption to $150,000, beginning January 1, 2027, and then increase it to $250,000, beginning January 1, 2028. This exemption will apply to all property taxes. In addition, the cap on the annual increase in the assessment of non-homestead properties would be reduced from 10% to 5%, but this change would not apply to school property tax levies. Any property taxes remaining after the changes would be restricted to being used solely for core services such as public safety, education, infrastructure, debt, and retirement benefits.

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2026 Budget Turkey Watch Report

2026 Budget Turkey Watch Report

Since 1983, Florida TaxWatch has published this annual independent review of the state budget to promote oversight, integrity, and transparency in the appropriations process. This year’s review of Florida’s $114.5 billion budget for FY2026-27 identifies 621 items totaling $829.7 million that qualify as “Budget Turkeys.” In addition to projects that qualify as Budget Turkeys, this report highlights other areas in the budget that contain numerous member projects that, while they do not strictly meet our Budget Turkey criteria, certainly merit extra scrutiny and close gubernatorial review.  These additional 484 projects total $441.1 million.
The principle behind the Budget Turkey Watch Report is simple: taxpayer dollars should be allocated through a transparent, accountable, and deliberative processes. All appropriations, especially projects requested by individual legislators, should be subject to rigorous public review. This is especially important since these are typically projects that are local rather than statewide in scope and are often outside the core functions of state government.

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