OKEECHOBEE- Should Okeechobee County adopt the rollback rate when setting the millage rate for property owners this summer?

The Florida GOP has started a campaign calling on local governments in the state to adopt the rollback rate and to provide immediate property tax relief.

In Florida, a local government isn't considered to be raising taxes if it uses what's called the "roll-back rate," even if the actual tax rate goes up. That's because the roll-back rate is based on keeping the total amount of tax revenue the same as the year before, but based on the current year's taxable property value. So, if the new rate brings in the same amount of money as last year, it's not seen as a tax increase.

“Since 2019, property taxes in Florida have skyrocketed, with some counties facing increases nearing 60%,” said Florida GOP chairman Evan Power. “These sharp hikes are putting intense financial pressure on Floridians—especially retirees and fixed-income households—who are now being priced out of homes they’ve lived in for decades.”

“Local governments have reaped windfalls from rising property values for too long. Enough is enough,” continued Power. “Every Florida county should adopt the rollback rate or lower the millage rate.”

The millage rate in Okeechobee County has been kept around the same since 2020, with property owners taxed at 8 mills. Although the rate was kept the same, that rate brought in more revenue because property values in the county have increased. Last year Okeechobee County Commissioners lowed the rate slightly to 7.9 mills. But that rate was still 3.84% higher than the rolled back rate.

In addition to the state GOP calling for lower property taxes, Governor Ron DeSantis announced the creation of the Florida State Department of Governmental Efficiency task force with the goal of eliminating waste within state government and saving taxpayers money.

“Our new task force will eliminate redundant boards and commissions, review state university and college operations and spending, utilize artificial intelligence to further examine state agencies to uncover hidden waste, and even audit the spending habits of local entities to shine the light on waste and bloat,” said Gov. DeSantis.

Gov. DeSantis says the task force will eliminate 70 unnecessary boards and commissions this year and look into local government expenditures by utilizing publicly available county and municipal spending records to expose bloat within local governance.