Ron DeSantis is taking aim at one of the most hated taxes in America.
The Florida governor just laid out his vision for making history.
And Ron DeSantis announced one bold plan that would make Florida the envy of every state in America.
DeSantis pushes to end property taxes for Florida homeowners
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) announced he’s pushing for a 2026 ballot measure that would completely eliminate property taxes for primary residences in the Sunshine State.¹
"We’re trying to focus on Florida homeowners and their primary residence," DeSantis explained during a March 2025 news conference. "You shouldn’t rent it from the government, you should own it."²
The proposal would require a constitutional amendment approved by 60% of Florida voters in November 2026.³
That’s a deliberately high bar — but DeSantis thinks he can clear it.
Property taxes have become a crushing burden for Florida families as home values skyrocketed in recent years.
What seemed like good news — rising home equity — turned into a nightmare when tax assessments followed those valuations straight up.
DeSantis made the case that working families shouldn’t lose their homes to the government just because some appraiser decided their property was worth more on paper.
"Even for young families, it’s become very difficult across this country to make ends meet," he said. "Wouldn’t it be great if they were able to have ownership without having the burden of property tax?"⁴
The governor has been working behind the scenes with Florida legislative leaders to craft the ballot language. Both the Florida House and Senate must approve any constitutional amendment by a 60% supermajority before it goes to voters.⁵
DeSantis reported that both chambers are now "onboard with the initiative" and "excited about being able to do it."⁶
The massive revenue challenge nobody wants to talk about
Here’s what makes DeSantis’s plan so audacious — and so risky.
Property taxes generate approximately $43-55 billion annually in Florida.⁷
Homesteaded properties account for roughly 30-35% of that total, meaning eliminating residential property taxes would cost somewhere between $15-19 billion per year.⁸
That’s not pocket change.
Schools in Florida get about 46% of their funding from property taxes.⁹
Local governments depend on property tax revenue for police, fire departments, road maintenance, and everything else that makes communities livable.
Democrats and even some Republicans have raised the obvious question — where does that money come from?
DeSantis has floated using Florida’s booming tourist economy to fill the gap.
"I want Canadian tourists and Brazilian tourists subsidizing the state and making it so Florida residents pay less taxes," DeSantis said at a March news conference in Orlando. "I don’t want to give Canadians a tax cut."¹⁰
The governor also pointed to his Department of Government Efficiency audits of local governments as a source of savings.
"These local governments…their budgets go up 60 percent," DeSantis argued. "Rather than return that money to the taxpayers, they spend it!"¹¹
But critics warn that’s wishful thinking.
The Florida Education Association and various local government organizations have already mobilized against the proposal, arguing it would devastate public services.¹²
State economists project Florida will have a $2 billion surplus next year — but could face a nearly $7 billion shortfall within two years if current spending trends continue.¹³
Adding $15-19 billion in lost property tax revenue to that equation makes the math even more challenging.
Why this is different from every other property tax elimination attempt
Every other state that’s tried to eliminate property taxes completely has failed.
North Dakota put a measure on the ballot in November 2024 that would have prohibited all property taxes statewide. Voters crushed it 63% to 37%.¹⁴
The same state tried a similar measure in 2012 and it failed by over 76%.¹⁵
Michigan and Nebraska have also flirted with property tax elimination in recent years. None made it to the ballot or came close to passing.¹⁶
What killed those attempts?
A massive coalition of local governments, teachers, police officers, firefighters, and business groups who convinced voters that eliminating property taxes would cripple essential services.
In North Dakota, a group called "Keep It Local" — backed by 113 organizations — successfully argued the measure would create chaos.¹⁷
DeSantis’ proposal is narrower and smarter than those failed attempts.
By targeting only primary residences and exempting rental properties, vacation homes, and commercial real estate, he’s limiting the revenue loss and avoiding attacks that he’s giving tax breaks to big corporations and out-of-state landlords.
The strategy also creates political momentum.
Homeowners — who vote at much higher rates than renters — would see massive savings.
A typical Florida homeowner with a homesteaded property currently pays several thousand dollars annually in property taxes.
Eliminating that would put real money back in people’s pockets immediately.
But DeSantis faces obstacles those other states didn’t have.
Florida has no state income tax, which means the state can’t just shift the burden to a different revenue source the way other states theoretically could.
The entire state budget structure would need to be reimagined.
The 2025 Florida legislative session ended without major property tax reform after months of bitter fighting between DeSantis and House Speaker Daniel Perez (R-Miami).
Perez wanted to cut the state sales tax from 6% to 5.25%, which would save consumers about $5 billion annually.¹⁸
DeSantis threatened to veto that plan, calling it "Florida-last" because tourists would benefit from sales tax cuts.
"We are not going to kneecap our ability to provide you property tax relief, just so we can give a little bit of a benefit to Canadian tourists," he said.¹⁹
The impasse led to the creation of a 37-member House Select Committee on Property Taxes to study the issue over the summer and make recommendations for 2026.²⁰
DeSantis accused House leadership of trying to kill property tax reform by stacking the committee with Democrats and lukewarm Republicans.²¹
What happens if Florida actually does this
If DeSantis’s measure passes in November 2026, Florida would become the first state in American history to eliminate property taxes for primary residences.
The ripple effects would be enormous. Every other state with high property taxes — Texas, Illinois, California, New Jersey — would face immediate pressure to follow Florida’s lead.
Homeowners in those states would ask the obvious question: if Florida can do it, why can’t we?
The real estate market in Florida would explode.
Eliminating property taxes would make Florida even more attractive to retirees, remote workers, and families fleeing high-tax states.
Home values would likely surge as demand increased — which would create its own set of problems.
Local governments in Florida would have to completely restructure how they fund operations. Some might turn to increased user fees and special assessments.
Others might push for higher sales taxes or new revenue sources.
The state would need to implement the replacement revenue mechanism promised in the amendment.
Schools would face the biggest challenge. With property taxes making up nearly half their funding, school districts would become almost completely dependent on state funding.
That means less local control and more decisions made in Tallahassee instead of by local school boards.
DeSantis’s proposal includes language requiring that school funding be protected, but the details remain murky.
State reserves would be used to backfill some of the losses initially, but that’s not a sustainable long-term solution.²²
The measure also raises questions about fairness.
Wealthy homeowners with expensive primary residences would see massive tax breaks — potentially saving $10,000, $20,000, or more annually on multi-million dollar homes.
Meanwhile, renters would see no direct benefit, though proponents argue landlords might lower rents if they’re paying less in property taxes.
Conservative tax policy experts remain divided.
Some see it as a bold experiment in limiting government and protecting property rights — the principle that you shouldn’t have to keep paying rent to the government for property you already own.
Making history
Eliminating property is the kind of transformational policy that gets remembered for generations — assuming it doesn’t blow up the state budget in the process.
The governor understands the 60% threshold is tough to clear.
Florida voters approved Amendment 5 in November 2024 — which added an inflation adjustment to homestead exemptions — with 66% support.²³ But that was a modest tweak to the existing system, not a revolutionary overhaul.
The last time Florida voters considered a major property tax change that would significantly reduce revenue, it failed.
A 2022 measure to provide additional homestead exemptions for teachers, law enforcement, and other public service workers received 58.68% support — falling just short of the 60% requirement.²⁴
DeSantis needs to convince two-thirds of Florida voters that the revenue replacement plan is credible and that essential services won’t suffer.
That’s going to require a massive education campaign and ironclad commitments about protecting schools, public safety, and infrastructure funding.
The opposition will be well-funded and organized.
Expect to see teachers unions, firefighters, police organizations, and local government associations flooding the airwaves with ads warning that eliminating property taxes means eliminating the services Floridians depend on.
Supporters will counter with emotional appeals about families losing their homes to skyrocketing tax bills and the fundamental injustice of never truly owning your property.
Both sides will spend tens of millions of dollars trying to win over voters.
Look for the campaign to focus heavily on seniors living on fixed incomes who’ve watched their property taxes climb year after year as their home values increased.
Those voters are reliable, motivated, and desperate for relief.
They’re also a huge voting bloc in Florida.
DeSantis’s best argument is simple: Florida is already the fastest-growing state in America with no income tax.
Eliminating property taxes would make it the most attractive place to live in the entire country.
The economic growth from that migration would generate enough revenue through sales taxes, business taxes, and tourism to replace what’s lost from property taxes.
His worst-case scenario is that voters decide it’s too risky — that the promise of no property taxes isn’t worth gambling on untested revenue replacement schemes that might force massive cuts to schools and public safety down the road.
The 2026 ballot measure will be one of the most closely watched policy experiments in America.
If it passes and works, expect a nationwide movement to follow Florida’s lead.
If it passes and fails, Florida will serve as a cautionary tale about the dangers of eliminating stable revenue sources without a clear replacement plan.
DeSantis is betting that Florida voters are ready to take that leap.
We’ll know in November 2026 whether he read the room correctly — or whether he’s about to learn the same lesson North Dakota, Michigan, and every other state that’s tried this has learned.
¹ Catherine Salgado, "Florida Gov. DeSantis Aims to End Property Taxes," PJ Media, October 22, 2025.
² "DeSantis pushes back on sales tax proposal, says Floridians are ‘clamoring for property tax relief’," WUSF, March 31, 2025.
³ "Florida House eyes property tax repeal in 2026, launches special committee amid rift with DeSantis," Tampa Bay 28, April 30, 2025.
⁴ Catherine Salgado, "Florida Gov. DeSantis Aims to End Property Taxes," PJ Media, October 22, 2025.
⁵ "Florida House eyes property tax repeal in 2026, launches special committee amid rift with DeSantis," Tampa Bay 28, April 30, 2025.
⁶ "Ron DeSantis Updates Florida on 2026 Plan for Property Tax Vote," Newsweek, August 28, 2025.
⁷ "The Future of Property Taxes in Florida: Legislative Hurdles and Funding Alternatives," Greenspoon Marder LLP, July 21, 2025.
⁸ "Florida Property Tax Elimination: DeSantis Plan Explained for Homeowners (2025)," PropertyExemption.com, October 2025.
⁹ "Florida House members file a slate of property tax reduction proposals," Florida Phoenix, October 16, 2025.
¹⁰ "DeSantis pushes back on sales tax proposal, says Floridians are ‘clamoring for property tax relief’," WUSF, March 31, 2025.
¹¹ "Ron DeSantis Updates Florida on 2026 Plan for Property Tax Vote," Newsweek, August 28, 2025.
¹² "Florida House members file a slate of property tax reduction proposals," Florida Phoenix, October 16, 2025.
¹³ "Gov. DeSantis: Property tax relief, not sales tax cuts, is Florida’s priority," Yahoo News, March 31, 2025.
¹⁴ "How States Voted on Ballot Measures to Lower Property Taxes," Money, November 6, 2024.
¹⁵ "North Dakota Initiated Measure 4, Prohibit Taxes on Assessed Value of Real Property Initiative (2024)," Ballotpedia, 2024.
¹⁶ "The Growing Movement to Eliminate Property Taxes: Will Texas Join the Tax Revolt?," Texas Policy Research, October 29, 2024.
¹⁷ "Voters in several states support reducing property taxes," North Dakota Monitor, November 10, 2024.
¹⁸ "Gov. DeSantis: Property tax relief, not sales tax cuts, is Florida’s priority," Yahoo News, March 31, 2025.
¹⁹ "Gov. DeSantis continues push to eliminate property taxes in Florida," WESH 2, May 7, 2025.
²⁰ "Florida House eyes property tax repeal in 2026, launches special committee amid rift with DeSantis," Tampa Bay 28, April 30, 2025.
²¹ "Gov. DeSantis continues push to eliminate property taxes in Florida," WESH 2, May 7, 2025.
²² "Gov. DeSantis: Property tax relief, not sales tax cuts, is Florida’s priority," Yahoo News, March 31, 2025.
²³ "Florida Amendment 5, Annual Inflation Adjustment for Homestead Property Tax Exemption Value Amendment (2024)," Ballotpedia, 2024.
²⁴ Ibid.
