Mayoral hopeful claimed Florida tax break meant for full-time residents

A beachside home in a small Florida town belonging to Albuquerque mayoral candidate Darren White has been receiving a $50,000 tax exemption since 2022, a tax break that requires the owner to be a Florida resident and allowed him to save a few thousand dollars a year on property taxes.

Despite having a multi-decade history as a prominent player in New Mexico politics, White’s tax exemption on his Florida property could create a contradiction in the candidate’s residency status as he gears up for a run at the mayor’s office.

New Mexico law requires candidates to reside in the district for which they are running and to be registered to vote in that district to qualify for the ballot; otherwise, they can be removed from the ballot, according to state law. The Albuquerque City Clerk cited the law to the Journal, but declined to specify whether it might apply in this case.

“The City cannot comment on issues that could come before the Board of Ethics or other adjudicatory bodies,” a city clerk spokesperson said.

White has an address in Albuquerque, a long voting record in local elections and no history of voting in Florida, according to publicly available documents. When reached by phone, he confirmed that he owned the house in Florida but stated it is not his permanent residence and that he would contact the appropriate appraiser to have any $50,000 exemption changed.

“We are confident voters care more about crime in Albuquerque than property tax technicalities in Florida,” White said in a written statement.

He further argued that the situation amounted to nothing more than a simple oversight when asked if he felt like he should reimburse Gulf County.

White was the Bernalillo County sheriff in 2002 and was re-elected in 2006. He also served as secretary of the New Mexico Department of Public Safety under Gov. Gary Johnson and was a chief public safety officer under former Albuquerque Mayor Richard Berry. More recently, White has become the CEO of PurLife, a cannabis company.

He is now part of a crowded field of seven candidates seeking the mayor’s office. White secured enough signatures last week to appear on the ballot.

‘It has been corrected’

Publicly available emails, voting records and property records first shared with the Journal by an outside source affiliated with a Republican political consulting firm, but independently verified by the Journal, show that White has claimed a house in Port St. Joe, Florida, as his primary residence since 2022.

In doing so, White received a yearly $50,000 tax exemption, known as a homestead exemption, which allowed him to save a few thousand dollars a year on property taxes. According to the Florida Department of Revenue, such exemptions require a person to declare that the house for which they’re receiving an exemption is their primary residence.

The Gulf County Appraiser’s Office, which oversees property assessment duties for Port St. Joe, confirmed to the Journal that White has received the homestead exemption since 2022, although he’s paid taxes on the house since buying it in 2019. An email from 2022 between White and the Appraiser’s Office shows that White confirmed he wanted the exemption. To receive it, the Appraiser’s Office must receive copies of utilities bills, bank information and a Florida driver’s license.

The Appraiser’s Office confirmed they had received all three of the required documents and White confirmed in an email that he had a Florida driver license at one point.

Additionally, publicly available documents on the Gulf County Appraiser’s Office website listed White’s Florida residence as currently receiving a homestead exemption. However, White said he planned to change that after talking with the Journal on June 18 and as of June 25, the Appraiser’s Office lists the property as no longer receiving it.

“I briefly lived in Florida but moved back in 2022 and changed my voter registration accordingly. I still have a home in Florida that is now a rental property. The property tax designation was inadvertent. It has been corrected, and all my taxes are up to date and paid in full,” White said.

The house is a single-family home located in Port St. Joe, a town in the panhandle with a population of approximately 3,775 residents. Documents show White purchased the property in 2019.

Meanwhile, voting records obtained by the Journal show that White has been a consistent voter in New Mexico over that time.

The records reveal that White voted in the 2022 general election, the 2024 primary election, and the 2024 general election, despite receiving the homestead exemption on the Port St. Joe house. There are no Florida records that suggest he voted in that state.

Eligibility questions are district court matters, according to a spokesperson from the Albuquerque City Clerk’s Office.

“I am very clearly a resident of Albuquerque — and live and pay taxes here,” White said.