Your property taxes doubled while your school district lost 50,000 students.
Ron DeSantis just called out the people responsible – and told homeowners exactly what comes next.
Now he's offering a guarantee that has every local government bureaucrat in Florida scrambling.
The Scam That's Been Running for Years
Broward County Public Schools had a budget of roughly $2.5 billion eight years ago.
Today it's roughly $5 billion.
The district lost more than 50,000 students in that same period.
DeSantis asked the obvious question Wednesday in Brooksville: "How do you double when you're hemorrhaging students?"
https://twitter.com/RonDeSantis/status/2064497510471626780?s=20
Nobody had an answer – because there isn't one.
That's not a school district managing growth.
That's a government bureaucracy treating your property tax bill like a blank check.
And Broward isn't alone.
Florida CFO Blaise Ingoglia has spent months documenting what he calls a five-year spending binge at the local level.
"Spending has gone out of control on the local level," Ingoglia said. "Cities and counties are just taking the money and are expanding government."
Florida's rapidly rising property values handed local governments a windfall – and they spent every dollar of it.
What DeSantis Is Promising Now
Florida voters will see a property tax relief measure on the November ballot.
The constitutional amendment – passed by the Legislature in a special session on June 2 – would raise the homestead exemption from $50,000 to $150,000 in 2027 and $250,000 in 2028.
Up to 60% of Florida primary homeowners could see their property taxes eliminated entirely.
School district funding is protected under the amendment.
The measure also includes a constitutional prohibition on counties and municipalities cutting law enforcement funding below current levels.
DeSantis committed Wednesday to using state surplus funds to provide grants to smaller, rural, and bedroom communities that lose property tax revenue and need help covering essential services.
"I will be 100% supportive of making sure that we have grants available so that all this stuff works well," DeSantis said.
https://twitter.com/GovRonDeSantis/status/2061098143807045943?s=20
The governor drew a hard line, though.
State money will protect police, fire, and core services – not fund the bloated bureaucratic expansion local governments built on your back.
"We're willing to give grants to ensure necessary services that we all depend on and we want," DeSantis said.
They Said the Same Thing in 1980
Local government officials are running the same playbook they always run.
Cut police, cut fire, cut roads – that's the threat every time a tax reduction is proposed.
DeSantis pointed to Florida's 1980 homestead exemption expansion – when voters raised the exemption to $25,000 – and noted the obvious: public safety continued.
Cops still showed up.
Fire trucks still rolled.
"Do you honestly believe we're just not going to have police?" DeSantis said Wednesday.
When local government officials warn about public safety, they are not protecting your neighborhood.
They are protecting their budget.
https://twitter.com/GovRonDeSantis/status/2059645468724838742?s=20
DeSantis is forcing that conversation into the open before November.
Why Ingoglia Is the Most Dangerous Man in Florida Right Now
Ingoglia isn't letting any of this go quietly.
He's been showing up at press conferences across the state with one message: stop crying poor and open your books.
"When a local government says that the sky is going to fall, they have other sources of revenue," Ingoglia said. "They have commercial projects, they have sales tax, they have gas tax, they have communication tax."
The bureaucrats spent years counting on homeowners not knowing that.
Now they do.
Between now and November, every county mayor and school board administrator in Florida is going to appear on local news warning about catastrophe.
Ingoglia's answer – backed by five years of documented spending data – is simple: you built that problem yourself by bingeing on rising property values, and Florida homeowners are done paying for it.
DeSantis built the guarantee.
Ingoglia is calling the bluff.
Vote yes in November and watch which local governments suddenly find the money they swore they didn't have.
Sources:
- Eric Weiss, "DeSantis says state may use surplus to help some communities if property tax relief passes," CBS12, June 10, 2026.
- "Florida property tax cut plan backed by DeSantis heads to November ballot after legislative approval," CBS News Miami, June 2026.
- "Florida passes $250,000 homestead exemption that could erase property taxes," Fox Business, June 2026.
- "Florida CFO says local governments are 'bloated' as property tax cut heads to voters," CBS12, June 2026.
- "Florida voters to decide expanded homestead tax exemption amendment in November," Ballotpedia News, June 2026.
