TALLAHASSEE --- Gov. Ron DeSantis continues to put some distance between himself and a property tax measure he pushed for that is going before voters in November.
DeSantis said Monday he will vote for the ballot item regarding homestead property taxes, but “what the Legislature did wasn't my proposal.”
“If someone asked me to do something, I'm not saying I wouldn't, but in terms of leading the effort, in terms of me saying, ‘here we go, we're going to do this, we're going to do all that.’ You know, I'm not going to do it,” DeSantis said during a bill signing event in Tampa.
“I think it'll likely pass,” DeSantis continued. “I mean, because if you read it, I think most people are going to be supportive of it. But I don't know that. I know ours would have passed, because we did a lot of research on exactly how to structure it and how to do that, and so we'll just see what happens.”
During an event in Bradenton on June 24, DeSantis pointed to his on-going rift with House leadership when saying, “I applaud that the Legislature was willing to put something on the ballot.”
When calling the special session on May 27, DeSantis recommended immediately raising the current exemption for homestead properties from $50,000 to $250,000, with the Legislature scheduling a further expansion after the measure passes that would eventually eliminate taxes completely for those properties.
Legislators tweaked the plan (HJR 1-F) the next week during the special session, carving out the impact on school districts.
Under the measure put on the ballot, the current $50,000 property tax exemption would increase to $150,000 in 2027 and to $250,000 in 2028, but it wouldn’t apply to school district levies. The annual 10-percent cap on increases to non-homestead property assessments would drop to 5 percent.
Future legislators would be allowed to further expand the exemption.
The joint resolution went straight to the ballot without needing DeSantis’ signature.
The “Save Our Homes From Excessive Property Taxes” proposal, set as Amendment 3 on the November ballot, has already drawn opposition in the form of a political committee called Vote No on 3 and Stop Unfair Tax Shifts.
Chaired by former Leon County Commissioner Bryan Desloge, the committee argues the proposal will result in dramatic cuts to essential local services and shift taxes to renters, commercial property and first-time home buyers.
“We know it’ll cost tens of billions. But the politicians haven’t told us how they’ll pay for it,” Vote No On 3 states on its website. “This amendment could eventually bleed $34 billion from local government budgets. The costs and consequences of this amendment will show up as higher rent, more expensive everyday purchases, costlier first homes, and in fewer small businesses that can’t absorb an increase in commercial property taxes.”
A legislative staff analysis of the resolution put the revenue impact on local governments at $4.95 billion in fiscal year 2027-2028, growing to $8.78 billion the following year and eventually $11.86 billion by fiscal year 2031-2032.
DeSantis has made increases in local government budgets since 2019 a key part of his pitch for the homestead change. During the recent Bradenton appearance, he called the referendum “a modest reduction” in revenue.
“I mean, they're still way, way more than they were in 2019, local governments relative to inflation and population growth. Don't let anyone tell you differently on that,” DeSantis asserted.
Paperwork submitted to the Division of Elections doesn’t show any direct tie to any local government and none of Vote No On 3’s initial contributions are from a city, municipal or county government.
Still, DeSantis on Monday called it “inappropriate” for local governments to spend money to oppose the ballot proposal that needs 60 percent voter support to pass.
“I don't know the details of this political committee, but I think it's totally inappropriate if local governments are spending, you know, spending a bunch of money saying that they need more money,” DeSantis said.
