Hello everyone. This past Tuesday, Florida's Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis, held a news conference to highlight the new Florida home hardening sales tax exemption that was one of our legislative priorities during the 2022 session.
The new initiative is a two-year, $462 million sales tax exemption on the retail sales of items like impact-resistant windows, doors and garage doors. It allows Florida homeowners to harden their homes against storms while making them eligible to save money on their insurance premiums.
CFO Patronis had the following to say about the initiative:
“I made it my priority this legislative session to use every tool in the toolbox to help insurance consumers lower their premiums and combat rising insurance rates in our state. Starting in July, Floridians will be able to harden their home against storms while saving tax dollars with the Home Hardening Sales Tax Exemption initiative. This is a historic $462 million tax savings plan to help Floridians strengthen their homes by installing impact-resistant items like windows, doors, and garage doors that will make them eligible for insurance premium savings. Unfortunately, Mother Nature loves paradise, and in Florida it’s not if, but when a hurricane is going to make its way to our state. That’s why I encourage all Floridians to use this program to protect your biggest investment – your home.”
The CFO also highlighted that during the recent special session on insurance reform, the Legislature provided $150 million in funding for the My Safe Florida Home grant program. That program provides up to $10,000 per home for Floridians to make storm improvements. Combined with the Home Hardening Tax Savings Initiative, that’s more than $612 million in savings for Florida consumers to shield their homes from storms.
Governor's Bill-Related Activity
So far, Governor DeSantis has signed 210 pieces of legislation passed during the 2022 legislative session into law. An additional 16 bills have been presented to the governor that await his signature. That leaves 41 bills passed during session that have not been sent to his desk for approval. Of the remaining 41 bills, the only Florida Realtors priority that has yet to be sent to the governor for signature is SB 620, which allows private, for-profit business owners to recover business damages related to local government ordinances.
Of note, SB 2508 - Environmental Resources was vetoed by Governor DeSantis this week. The governor explained the veto stating, “While the bill that was ultimately passed by the Legislative is an improvement over what was initially filed, SB 2508 still creates unnecessary and redundant regulatory hurdles which may compromise the timely execution and implementation of Everglades restoration projects, water control plan, and regulation schedules.”
Governor DeSantis Highlights Environmental Funding
This week, Governor DeSantis highlighted more than $500 million for resiliency that was included in the FY 2022-23 state budget. The investment includes more than $270 million to fully fund all three years of the state’s first ever Statewide Flooding Resilience Plan and an additional $180 million for the state’s next plan which will be submitted later this year. The budget also includes up to $40 million for Resilient Florida Planning Grants to help communities develop and update comprehensive vulnerability assessments.
The governor also highlighted more than $1.2 billion for Everglades restoration and the protection of Florida’s water resources. After the signing of this year’s state budget, Florida has now surpassed Gov. DeSantis’ four-year goal with a total investment of more than $3.3 billion since 2019. More details on the environmental budget can be found here.
NAR Provides Input on HUD Proposal
The National Association of Realtors® announced support for the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) that would allow the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) to recast existing mortgages to terms of up to 480 months, or 40 years. This change provides the FHA with an important tool to help struggling homeowners and NAR fully supports efforts to support distressed owners and ameliorate negative impacts on them in the post pandemic environment.
Realtors® were concerned about the impact of the pandemic on the housing market and urged action to protect homeowners and homebuyers. Today, the FHA faces a new challenge as 9.58 percent of its borrowers were in some stage of delinquency during the first quarter of 2022. The FHA will need new tools to help these borrowers sustain homeownership or to help ease their transition. NAR believes that a standard for determining a borrower’s ability to repay must be flexible to accommodate borrowers with unique circumstances. Allowing the FHA to modify the mortgages of distressed homeowners to a monthly payment that they can meet with a moderately longer amortization helps to support homeownership and stability of the market. Furthermore, both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac effectively use this tool to support homeowners during stress events demonstrating its merit.
Read the NAR press release here.