Commentary
If you bit into fresh sweet corn last winter, or tossed a bell pepper into a January salad, there’s a good chance it came from Florida. The state ranks first in the nation in bell peppers, and one South Florida county leads the country in sugarcane and sweet corn. Florida’s orange growers have spent years fighting citrus greening and hurricanes that cut the orange crop by more than half in a single season. Most visitors who come for the beaches and theme parks never see this side of Florida. But drive an hour inland and the landscape changes: Roughly one-third of the state’s land is in agriculture.
On Nov. 3, Floridians will decide whether to stop taxing the equipment that makes that harvest possible. Amendment 2 would exempt tractors, harvesters, irrigation systems, and other farm equipment from property taxes. Amendment 2 has been overshadowed by louder fights over Amendment 1, which would raise the cap on the state’s rainy-day fund from 10 percent to 25 percent of general revenue, and Amendment 3, which would sharply raise the homestead exemption from local property taxes.
Amendment 2 deserves a yes.
Like most states, Florida levies a “tangible personal property” tax on business equipment. Above the first $25,000, a farmer pays tax on machinery every single year. It doesn’t matter whether the farm turned a profit, lost a crop to a hurricane, or watched greening wipe out a grove. As the Florida House sponsor, state Rep. Danny Alvarez, a Republican, put it: “You already bought it. You already paid for it.”
Economists have long criticized this tax. The nonpartisan Tax Foundation noted that it falls directly on capital investment and is needlessly complex to comply with. Agricultural law scholar Roger McEowen observed that because every upgrade raises the annual bill, the tax discourages farmers from buying newer, more efficient, and safer equipment. We are taxing the very productivity that we say we want.
Florida would hardly be pioneering. Texas exempts farm and ranch machinery from property taxes. Kansas exempts all farm machinery and equipment, and its legislature explained why in the statute itself: The tax deters investment and can even push families to abandon farms and ranches. Fourteen states broadly exempt business equipment altogether.
Florida’s lawmakers understand this. Amendment 2 passed the Florida House 110–1 and the Florida Senate 37–0. The lone no came from state Rep. Anna Eskamani, an Orlando Democrat who is one of the Legislature’s most progressive members.
The stakes for Florida farmland are real. The state had nearly 2,900 fewer farms in 2022 than in 2017. A University of Florida study projects that about 120 acres of farmland per day could be lost to development through 2070. Taxpayers already fund programs such as the Rural and Family Lands Protection Program to buy development rights and keep land in production. But the cheapest farmland preservation program is a profitable farm. Amendment 2’s cost, about $31 million per year statewide, works out to less than half a million dollars per county on average.
Critics raise two objections worth answering. First, the biggest savings go to the biggest operations. True, but only because small farms already owe nothing: More than three-quarters of agricultural equipment accounts fall under the existing $25,000 exemption. The real question isn’t whether large farms benefit, but rather whether taxing productive equipment makes sense for anyone.
Second, one reporter estimates that some savings could flow to medical marijuana growers operating on agricultural land. I have no sympathy for that industry. But the amendment lets the Legislature define and limit the exemption by general law. Lawmakers should use that power to keep this relief focused on the farms and ranches that feed us.
That brings me to the larger point. If it’s wrong to tax a farmer every year for a tractor she already bought, it’s just as wrong to tax a dentist for her chair, a landscaper for his mowers, or a machine shop for its lathes. Every Florida small business with more than $25,000 in equipment pays each year for the privilege of having invested in itself. As someone who studies entrepreneurship, I see how that discourages exactly the investment that grows a business and its payroll.
I was just in Wisconsin, which has long exempted farm machinery and in 2024 repealed its tax on business equipment entirely. Vote yes on Amendment 2. Then ask your legislators to finish the job, as Wisconsin did.
Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
