Your county budget went up 60 percent in five years while your property tax bill followed it straight up.
DeSantis wants to end that – and the people who got fat on your money are doing everything they can to stop him.
Here is where the fight stands and why it is not over yet.
The Gravy Train That Has to Stop
Florida local governments hit the jackpot during the housing boom.
Home values doubled, property assessments followed, and county and city budgets ballooned with cash that came straight out of homeowners' pockets.
Someone who bought a house for $300,000 ten years ago is now being told it is worth $750,000 – and their property tax bill reflects every penny of that.
DeSantis has been saying it plainly for over a year: local governments used the housing boom as a gusher of revenue and spent it instead of returning it to the people it came from.
https://twitter.com/FLVoiceNews/status/2032586003077333007?s=20
The Florida House agreed and passed HJR 203 by an 80–30 margin in February – a proposal to phase out non-school homestead taxes over 10 years beginning January 2027.
The Senate never scheduled a single hearing on it.
The 60 Percent Problem Nobody Wants to Talk About
Here is the wall DeSantis is actually trying to get over.
Florida's constitution requires 60% of voters to approve any amendment before it becomes law.
No presidential candidate has hit 60% in Florida in modern history.
The 2024 abortion amendment got 57% and died.
DeSantis can't just sign property tax relief into existence – he needs a ballot measure written so clearly and compellingly that six in ten Florida voters say yes in November.
That is why he has been grinding through the language instead of rushing something to a vote.
"Voters are going to read it," DeSantis said. "Are they going to like what they see or not? You can't just have a bureaucrat write that – there's an art to it."
A sloppily written amendment fails at the ballot box and kills the entire effort for years.
His comment on Hannity this week – still workshopping the timing of when relief would actually take effect – is not a governor losing his nerve.
https://twitter.com/PaulGoldEagle/status/2036219965267910706?s=20
It is a governor who knows that one ambiguous sentence in a constitutional amendment gives Florida judges a decade of wiggle room to gut it.
The Senate Is the Real Obstacle
DeSantis has called a special session for April, and Senate President Ben Albritton has confirmed a property tax session is coming – though the exact schedule remains fluid.
The Senate spent the entire regular session aligned with DeSantis's go-slow approach while producing zero proposals of its own.
House Republicans are frustrated and they are right to be.
"We passed the most conservative and strongest property tax bill we've ever seen come out of the Florida Legislature," said Rep. Toby Overdorf. "Unfortunately, our friends across the hall did not take that up."
The House did its job.
The Senate punted.
Florida ended the regular session without a budget for the second straight year – a constitutional embarrassment that tells you everything about the Senate's appetite for doing hard things on a deadline.
Why DeSantis Wins This If He Pushes
No U.S. state has ever successfully abolished property taxes – which means if DeSantis pulls this off, Florida becomes the template for every red state in America watching this fight.
Thirteen states are weighing similar proposals right now, from Michigan to Nebraska to Texas.
The difference is Florida has a governor who has already eliminated the income tax burden for most residents and made the state the most business-friendly in the nation.
He knows how to win tax fights.
The timing questions he is still resolving are real – a phased elimination starting in 2027 hits homeowners differently than one starting in 2030, and locking in the wrong date in a constitutional amendment cannot be undone without another 60% vote.
Florida homeowners deserve a governor who gets this right, not just fast.
The special session is coming.
The ballot measure is coming.
And when it gets there, every Florida homeowner who has watched their tax bill climb while their county built new administrative offices will know exactly who fought for them.
Sources:
- A.G. Gancarski, "Gov. DeSantis trying to figure out 'timing' of property tax phaseout," Florida Politics, March 24, 2026.
- A.G. Gancarski, "Gov. DeSantis still sees Special Session as necessary for property tax relief," Florida Politics, February 25, 2026.
- "Florida lawmakers end session without budget or property tax deal, setting up special session," WFLX, March 13, 2026.
- "House passes Florida property tax reduction, but not aligned with Senate," WUSF, February 20, 2026.
- "DeSantis details phased approach to eliminate Florida property taxes with 2026 ballot requirement," Fox Business, December 5, 2025.
- "Stay tuned: Florida Gov. DeSantis says property tax cuts are in the works," Click Orlando, March 21, 2026.
- Ron DeSantis, Newsweek interview, August 28, 2025.
