Today we are talking about a piece of legislation in Florida that, if it ultimately becomes law, could reshape how property taxes are calculated across the state for decades to come. It is House Joint Resolution 203, often referred to as HJR 203, and it has just passed the Florida House.

Now, first, a reminder, a joint resolution like this is not a typical statute change. It proposes a constitutional amendment. In Florida, that means voters ultimately decide, and it generally requires a 60 percent approval threshold on the ballot.

So what does HJR 203 propose?

The short version is that it would gradually expand the homestead exemption for non school property taxes by $100,000 per year for ten years beginning in 2027, and by 2037, it would fully exempt homestead property from non school ad valorem taxes. School district levies remain.

So why does this matter to real estate investors, even investors who do not own homesteads?

Because property taxes are not just a line item. They are a transfer system. If you change who is exempt, you change who must carry the load, or you change what services get funded, or both. And if you change the tax base, you can change market behavior.

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**Real Estate Espresso Podcast:**
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iTunes: [The Real Estate Espresso Podcast](https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-real-estate-espresso-podcast/id1340482613)
Website: [www.victorjm.com](http://www.victorjm.com)
LinkedIn: [Victor Menasce](http://www.linkedin.com/in/vmenasce)
YouTube: [The Real Estate Espresso Podcast](http://www.youtube.com/@victorjmenasce6734)
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Email: [podcast@victorjm.com](mailto:podcast@victorjm.com)
**Y Street Capital:**
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I’m coming to you live from Sonoma California where I’ve been attending a small business mastermind event. Today we are talking about something that, on the surface, looks like agriculture and tourism, but underneath is a case study in economic gravity. This is the result of direct observation and conversation with people who are local to the market.

Northern California wine country, Napa and Sonoma in particular, has an aura of permanence. Rolling hills, tasting rooms, hospitality, luxury brands, and a global reputation built over decades. When something has that much cultural momentum, people assume it is immune to basic supply and demand. It is not.

Every business lives inside a box of four forces, supply, demand, capital cost and regulation. We’re not going to talk about capital cost today.

When supply expands faster than demand, prices compress. When regulation rises, costs increase and flexibility disappears. When all three move against you at once, even great operators can find themselves trapped.

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**Real Estate Espresso Podcast:**
Spotify: [The Real Estate Espresso Podcast](https://open.spotify.com/show/3GvtwRmTq4r3es8cbw8jW0?si=c75ea506a6694ef1)
iTunes: [The Real Estate Espresso Podcast](https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-real-estate-espresso-podcast/id1340482613)
Website: [www.victorjm.com](http://www.victorjm.com)
LinkedIn: [Victor Menasce](http://www.linkedin.com/in/vmenasce)
YouTube: [The Real Estate Espresso Podcast](http://www.youtube.com/@victorjmenasce6734)
Facebook: [www.facebook.com/realestateespresso](http://www.facebook.com/realestateespresso)
Email: [podcast@victorjm.com](mailto:podcast@victorjm.com)
**Y Street Capital:**
Website: [www.ystreetcapital.com](http://www.ystreetcapital.com)
Facebook: [www.facebook.com/YStreetCapital](https://www.facebook.com/YStreetCapital)
Instagram: [@ystreetcapital](http://www.instagram.com/ystreetcapital)

On today’s show we are talking about the biggest obstacle to manufacturing in the US. When I was deeply involved in the tech industry as a microprocessor design engineer, there was a culture. It’s a culture that has turned out to be unhealthy and is one of the core reasons why we don’t have manufacturing in North America.

There will continue to be announcements of new data centres, of manufacturing, and perhaps other major investments. The success of those initiatives is not about tariffs, or the real estate, or the tax incentives offered by the local government. It’s going to be about growing the talent pool of skills to gain critical mass in those geographic locations. Only then you will see the transformation of industrial activity in the country. That kind of brain trust is not developed in a week or a month. Where we have dozens of people with that deep expertise in a major city, you will find tens of thousands in Taiwan and China.

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**Real Estate Espresso Podcast:**
Spotify: [The Real Estate Espresso Podcast](https://open.spotify.com/show/3GvtwRmTq4r3es8cbw8jW0?si=c75ea506a6694ef1)
iTunes: [The Real Estate Espresso Podcast](https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-real-estate-espresso-podcast/id1340482613)
Website: [www.victorjm.com](http://www.victorjm.com)
LinkedIn: [Victor Menasce](http://www.linkedin.com/in/vmenasce)
YouTube: [The Real Estate Espresso Podcast](http://www.youtube.com/@victorjmenasce6734)
Facebook: [www.facebook.com/realestateespresso](http://www.facebook.com/realestateespresso)
Email: [podcast@victorjm.com](mailto:podcast@victorjm.com)
**Y Street Capital:**
Website: [www.ystreetcapital.com](http://www.ystreetcapital.com)
Facebook: [www.facebook.com/YStreetCapital](https://www.facebook.com/YStreetCapital)
Instagram: [@ystreetcapital](http://www.instagram.com/ystreetcapital)