TALLAHASSEE – Gov. Ron DeSantis told reporters Wednesday he’ll convene a special legislative session in the next two months to install the large property tax cut approved by voters Tuesday evening.
At a press conference in the state Capitol, DeSantis said he would work with the Legislature on the timing of the session, but it would be before his second term ends in early January.
Amendment 3, which increases the $50,000 homestead property tax exemption to $150,000 in 2027, and then to $250,000 in 2028, received 62 percent of the vote – two points more than the 60 percent needed to become law.
“What it’ll do is it’ll set the schedule for further homestead exemption, because we want people to get that,” DeSantis said. “But also limiting local governments from just doing an end run around the amendment and taxing them in other ways.”
In a special session over the summer, the Legislature voted to put the property tax cut on the ballot, but carved out school districts from the larger exemption. But on Wednesday, DeSantis hinted the Legislature would look at potential changes to the Florida Education Finance Program, the state’s funding formula for K-12 public schools, next year when he’s out of office.
“You may be able to do a rewrite in a way that will provide strong funding for schools in a way that can still provide relief for homeowners,” DeSantis said.
In recent years, districts have been stretched thin by record-low birth rates and an expansion of school vouchers, which have led to lower enrollment, the closing of schools and budget cuts.
Governor-elect Byron Donalds told the News Service of Florida last week he planned to change the way the FEFP funds public schools to give school districts more flexibility on spending.
“Let the districts figure out how they’re going to pay their teachers, let the districts figure out what programming they’re going to put forward,” Donalds said.
Amendment 3 faced tough pushback from a wide range of organizations throughout the election season, including firefighters, police and emergency medical technicians, local government officials and top Republican leaders, who argued the property tax cut would be too drastic for rural counties to absorb without hitting essential services.
DeSantis, however, toured the state for more than a year, talking about the need to slash property tax bills as valuations surged.
He credited the popularity of Amendment 3 for providing enough Republican turnout to keep the Cabinet in GOP control while other red states flipped their seats to Democratic candidates.
“Had Amendment 3 not been on the ballot, I don’t know that we’d turn out the voters that we ended up turning out,” DeSantis said. “People wanted to vote yes on that, and then many of them ended up voting Republican later on down the ballot.
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