Florida to Close 2022 with the Highest Surplus in History. Find Out How

Photo byMatthew Paulson

The greatest surplus in Florida history has been recorded.

The Sunshine State reported a $21.8 billion surplus and lowered its debt by $1.3 billion in 2022, according to a recently published State Debt Report from the State of Florida Division of Bond Finance.

Deregulation and lower taxes

The report said that Florida increased its revenues by 17% ($8.5 billion) and maintained its AAA bond rating due to its strong improving economy

Florida's economy, according to Governor Ron DeSantis, had prospered because of the state's dedication to lowering taxes and regulations and ensuring that businesses were open when other governments implemented severe lockdown measures.

Earlier this year, DeSantis signed the largest tax relief law in Florida history with savings of more than $1.2 billion, as places like California raised taxes, especially on businesses. It's worth mentioning that California is facing a deficit this year, after several years of staggering surpluses.

The man of Florida

Before winning his second term, DeSantis said that Florida's new residents left "jurisdictions governed by failing leftist ideology and corrupt politicians. You see the migration – and since COVID, we’ve led the nation in net migration, we’ve had more adjusted gross income move into the state of Florida than has ever moved into any state in the history of our country over a similar time period. And this is just people voting with their feet."

“We’ve been able to see what works in Florida because we have been a place where people go for refuge to live in a free state [after they’ve been] ground down by a lot of these woke [governors] running so many parts of our country.”

The report noted that annual debt service payments have become relatively stable in the range of $2 billion to $2.2 billion through fiscal 2022 but are foreseen to decrease significantly in fiscal 2023 to $1.8 billion and decline annually thereafter.

What do you think about Florida's historic surplus?

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