- Over the past few years, Americans have flocked to Florida's white-hot housing market.
- Miami mayor Francis Suarez says it's because the state rejects the "socialist" model of high taxes and regulation.
- But what Floridians lack in taxes, they make up for in costs associated with natural disasters.
Florida's real estate market is white hot — but its ecosystem is in peril.
Natural disasters triggered by the climate crisis have led to higher housing costs and greater wealth inequality — yet each year thousands of Americans flock to the Sunshine state.
Francis Suarez, the Republican Mayor of Miami, wrote in a Wall Street Journal op-ed that it is because the US is "witnessing a competition between two core philosophies." In this game, according to Suarez, Florida's conservative economic model is winning.
"On one side, we have the socialist model: high taxes, high regulation, less competition and declining public services with the government imposing itself as the solver and arbiter of all social problems," he said. "On the other side, we have the Miami model: low taxes, low regulation and a commitment to public safety and private enterprise."
Suarez says both models are indicative of American attitudes towards issues ranging from "personal freedom, economic opportunity and public safety," and as politics become more polarizing — it's impacting where people choose to live.
"People are voting with their feet by moving their lives, their jobs, their businesses and their families to low-tax states," Suarez said.
Indeed, more Americans are considering politics to determine where they will live next. There are several Facebook groups solely dedicated to helping conservatives relocate to the South. While many are relocating for religious purposes, Suarez says economic mobility is another driver.
According to him, the "socialist model" of costly taxes and high regulation is driving some Americans away from blue states like New York and California — and sending them to red states like Florida instead.
"Many Americans living in New York state and California are paying more than 50% of their annual income to local, state and federal governments," he said, adding that in Miami, "you can keep what you earn, invest what you save, and own what you build."
Lower taxes, but more climate disasters
Citizens in liberal-leaning states do tend to spend more of their income on taxes. Data from online banking database Moneyrates shows that citizens in traditional Democratic states — like California and New York — contributed more in federal taxes than their counterparts in Republican states like Florida.
New York State income tax brackets range from 4% to 10% and California's can be up to 13%. According to Moneyrate, in 2017 citizens in the Golden State paid more than $230 million in federal taxes — marking the most in individual taxes to the federal budget — while residents of the Big Apple paid over $140 million. In Florida, the total amounted to just under $117 million, nearly half of California's payment.
Suarez wants Florida's residents to spend even less.
"In this era of stagflation and recession, we know we must be bold and we must be brave," he said. "Even in Florida, we must embrace innovation and enterprise by eliminating the recent online sales tax. We must also eliminate the Florida commercial rent tax to increase our supply of commercial space for our growing economy of small businesses."
If Suarez wishes were to come true, it could lead to even more homebuyer traffic.
But in a state where climate change poses a serious threat to its housing market, incoming buyers could be hopping out of the pan and into the fire. Over the past few years, rising sea levels have led to severe coastal flooding that has eroded the state's ecosystem. It has also cost taxpayers millions of dollars in damage.
Experts now believe by 2050 sea levels in Florida will have risen by 18 inches and by 2100 a large percentage of its coastal land will be permanently submerged — and that means home-migrators will have bigger problems on their hands than sales tax.