Report: Tampa property taxes up nearly 60% since pandemic

A new report analyzing property tax increases in metro areas nationally since the pandemic has bad news for a trio of Florida markets: Jacksonville, Tampa and Miami are all in the top 3 of regions with the biggest increases. 

On the bright side, those regions weren’t No. 1 or No. 2. That fell to Indianapolis, where the report, from tech real estate brokerage Redfin, found the typical homebuyer pays 66.7% more today than they would have in 2019, bringing their monthly tax bill to $205. Atlanta is No. 2 with a 65.8% increase to $239. Then three from the Sunshine State, with increases ranging from 48.1% to 59.6%. 

The report posits three reasons for the tax increases in Florida, including: 

• Home values have skyrocketed over the last half-decade, partly due to the pandemic-driven homebuying boom, with many out-of-town buyers moving in and pushing up prices. While Florida prices have since fallen from a peak, assessed home values — which drive property tax bills — are much higher than before the pandemic.
• Florida has increased property tax rates to invest in climate-resiliency projects, the report states. Property taxes are an especially important way for governments to pay for those projects in states like Florida and Texas that don’t have state income taxes. 
• The state’s increasing population has caused increased demand for government services, like schools and roads, which can motivate municipalities to raise taxes; inflation also plays a role because those services cost more than they used to, the report shows. 

“Florida was alluring for remote workers during the pandemic because of its relatively affordable housing. Somewhat ironically, the state’s population boom has driven up home prices, and property taxes along with it,” said Elijah de la Campa, a senior economist at Redfin. “The cost of owning a home has gone from affordable to unaffordable for a lot of local Florida residents and out-of-towners. Home prices that are much higher than in pre-pandemic times and the disaster-driven surge in HOA and insurance costs are now pricing homebuyers out of the market. Homebuyers have realized they may save money by paying no income tax, but their property tax bill will increase.”

Nationwide, property taxes, in dollars, have increased nearly 30% since 2019 to a monthly median of $250, the report found. The average effective tax rate across the U.S. is 0.67%, down from 0.77% in 2019; the effective tax rate has declined over that period because home prices have increased more than the tax rates set by local governments.