TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Gov. Ron DeSantis made clear Wednesday he’s not on board with the Florida House’s multi-pronged approach to property tax reform, calling the chamber’s newly unveiled package "milquetoast" and warning it could doom efforts to deliver real relief to homeowners.
At a press event in Tampa, DeSantis said the House’s eight proposals, seven of which are constitutional amendments, all designed to give voters a menu of options for cutting or capping local property taxes in 2026, are the wrong approach. He argued that offering multiple measures would confuse voters and make it harder for any one proposal to reach the 60% threshold needed for passage.
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"You have to have one amendment," DeSantis said. “It’s got to be very clearly written and give people a chance to vote for it. What you don’t do is put five on there… It offends me because they think you're stupid enough for them to tell you, 'Oh no, we're supportive of you. We put it up. We put stuff on the ballot. We tried.' They can't think you're that stupid, right?"
The governor’s comments come two weeks after House Speaker Danny Perez (R–Miami) announced a slate of proposed ballot measures and one bill based on recommendations from the House Select Committee on Property Taxes. Those include options to phase out or eliminate non-school homestead property taxes, add exemptions for seniors and insured homeowners, and tighten limits on how fast property values can rise.
Perez framed the effort as a chance to let voters, not politicians, decide:
"If we have faith in the voters to elect us, we should not be afraid to let them be a part of the conversation about the taxes they pay," Perez wrote in the Oct. 16 memo.
But DeSantis dismissed the House package as uninspired and unserious, saying none of the ideas “would get people excited.” Instead, he said his administration is still developing a single, broader amendment — one focused squarely on homesteaded Florida residents, whom he believes should eventually pay no property tax at all.
In response, Perez fired back in a statement Wednesday:
"The governor’s comments can only be interpreted in two ways. Either he’s being small and petty, or he has just revealed something significant today about his mysterious property tax plan. The House has proposed eliminating all non-school homestead property taxes. The Governor weirdly called that ‘milquetoast.’ That can only mean the Governor has just announced that he will be proposing to abolish all property taxes including school taxes. I look forward to seeing the Governor’s proposed budget where he makes up for the $21 billion for schools that he plans to cut."
DeSantis, meanwhile, said his administration is still developing a single, broader amendment — one focused squarely on homesteaded Florida residents, whom he believes should eventually pay no property tax at all.
"You have a home, you're homesteaded. You should own it. You shouldn't be taxed— it shouldn't be an ATM for the local government," DeSantis said. "That’s the vision we want to see."
Still, the governor acknowledged the challenge of structuring such a plan to avoid unintended consequences, like incentivizing out-of-state buyers to flock to Florida or cutting too deeply into local government budgets that fund law enforcement and education.
DeSantis also took aim at past legislative drafting practices, complaining that many recent ballot measures have failed because “some lawyer on staff drafts something nobody can understand.” He said his team is focused on crafting "clear, simple language" that voters can trust and understand.
In the meantime, the House readies to move its proposals through the committee process. Rep. Toby Overdorf (R–Palm City), who co-chairs the property tax panel, said lawmakers intentionally filed multiple resolutions so voters could choose which, if any, to adopt.
"What we're doing and trying to do is to make sure that the residents of Florida, ultimately the voters, will have the opportunity to make a decision as to what they want to do surrounding their property taxes," Overdorf told Capitol Reporter Forrest Saunders recently. "If we give voters a variety of choices, that’s what we felt was most appropriate."
Democrats, however, have warned that the proposals could devastate local governments. House Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell (D-Tampa) said the plan risks undermining essential public services and shifting financial burdens onto smaller counties.
"What firehouse would he come and close in Tampa? What police station would he close in Orlando?" Driskell said. "Those are the sorts of activities that our property taxes go to, and we would be, I think, leaving the state in local communities in a situation where it would cause harm."
DeSantis brushed off the criticism, saying his administration will protect school and public safety funding while cracking down on wasteful local spending.
The governor’s final proposal is expected sometime soon, ahead of the 2026 ballot deadline. It could set up another sharp divide between the executive branch and the House, this time over how far, and how fast, Florida should go on property tax reform.
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