At the 2025 State of Polk County event, County Manager Bill Beasley introduced a marketing-caliber video that highlighted many positive aspects of local life. Among them: efforts to encourage more affordable housing.
But also in April, Polk County Property Appraiser Neil Combee sent a letter to the County Commission to warn them that property tax breaks for affordable housing developments would put a sizable dent in ad valorem tax revenues.
Combee blamed Florida’s Live Local Act, which is legislation designed to address Florida’s housing-affordability crisis by providing developers with property tax breaks and in some cases less restrictive zoning rules such as additional density and building heights. The act also allows administrative approvals, a provision that potentially eliminates lengthy public hearings over contentious issues.
Essential workers are targets of Live Local Act
Affordable housing advocates say there is a crisis facing essential workers in Florida because they cannot afford to buy homes or rent apartments without spending more than 30% of their household incomes for a roof over their heads, which is considered a benchmark for housing costs in a healthy household budget…