TALLAHASSEE — Lawmakers may well twist themselves into a knot this year trying to decide the definition of a property tax increase.

Is it simply whether a tax bill goes up from one year to the next? Or could it be a tax increase even if Florida lawmakers spend the same amount of property taxes on schools next year as they spent this year?

The outcome of that debate could determine how lawmakers plug a $1 billion hole in the state’s K-12 education budget. It also could affect whether the South Water Management District can afford to buy U.S. Sugar land, and the size of city and county tax bills.

On average, property tax bills would remain about the same if state lawmakers collect the $9 billion in property taxes they did this year for schools. But to do that, they’d have to increase the property tax rate by 12 percent or more to make up for a precipitous drop in home values during the past year.

via Definition of property tax increase could affect schools, U.S. Sugar deal.