Florida homeowners have been getting crushed by property taxes that jumped over 108% in the last decade.
Governor Ron DeSantis promised to do something about it. He wants Florida to become the first state in the nation with no income tax and no property tax on primary residences.
But Ron DeSantis just exposed the real reason Florida lawmakers are blocking property tax relief.
DeSantis Calls Out House Leadership's "Political Game"
DeSantis has been barnstorming Florida for months, laying the groundwork for a constitutional amendment that would eliminate property taxes on homestead properties.
The plan would go before voters in November 2026.
The Governor described property taxes as "the most oppressive and ineffective form of taxation," telling Floridians that paying them is "basically paying rent to the government to live on your own property."¹
But House Speaker Daniel Perez had other ideas.
Instead of backing DeSantis's plan, the House released seven different constitutional amendments on property taxes in mid-October.
DeSantis wasn't buying it.
"Placing more than one property tax measure on the ballot represents an attempt to kill anything on property taxes," DeSantis fired back on X. "It's a political game, not a serious attempt to get it done for the people."²
https://twitter.com/RonDeSantis/status/1981194783013167322?s=20
The Governor knows exactly how this works.
Flooding the ballot with competing measures splits the vote.
None of them get the 60% needed to pass. Property tax relief dies.
Politicians shrug and say they tried.
The Feud Goes Public
The relationship between DeSantis and Perez has never been worse.
They've clashed all year on immigration enforcement, university presidential searches, and oversight of Hope Florida, a charity program tied to First Lady Casey DeSantis.
Now property taxes have become the main battleground.
Perez shot back at the Governor's criticism, calling DeSantis "small and petty" and demanding to see an actual plan.³
"The Governor has not produced a plan on property taxes. Period," Perez said. "It's unclear what he wants to do. I've personally reached out to share with him the House's proposals and he has, so far, not wanted to engage in a conversation."⁴
But DeSantis isn't having it.
He's accused House leadership of trying to "smother" property tax relief "in the crib" by convening a 37-member task force that included "some of the most liberal Democrats who do not want to give you property tax relief in the entire state of Florida."⁵
https://twitter.com/ReOpenChris/status/1985362497109430456?s=20
The Governor even threatened to veto any tax package that prioritizes sales tax cuts over property tax relief, calling it a "Florida-last" approach that would benefit Canadian tourists more than Florida homeowners.⁶
DeSantis Protects Young Families From Age-Based Carve-Out
This week, DeSantis drew another line in the sand when he learned some lawmakers wanted to limit property tax relief to seniors only.
"Age-specific property tax relief is a non-starter," DeSantis declared on X. "Making homestead properties tax-free would be a major boon to young families who will be better able to make ends meet."⁷
https://twitter.com/RonDeSantis/status/1990455180526039348?s=20
The Governor isn't going to let politicians pit generations against each other.
He wants relief for every Florida homeowner, not just the ones who show up to vote in off-year elections.
"Why saddle anyone — but particularly young people — with rising local taxes based on increased assessments, which are nothing more than an unrealized gain?" DeSantis asked.⁸
That's the key point here.
Property taxes force homeowners to pay taxes on paper gains they've never actually realized. Your house went up in value on paper?
Congratulations, now you owe the government more money — even though you haven't sold anything and your income hasn't changed.
The Real Fight Is About Government Spending
Florida collects roughly $43 billion annually in property taxes.⁹
That's real money, and local governments don't want to give it up.
Critics claim eliminating property taxes would gut funding for police, fire departments, and schools.
But DeSantis and Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia have been traveling the state exposing what they call wasteful local government spending.
"These local governments… their budgets go up 60 percent," DeSantis said. "You ask yourself, why? Because people buy homes, it's a gusher of revenue going into the coffers. Rather than return that money to the taxpayers, they spend it!"¹⁰
https://twitter.com/GovRonDeSantis/status/1920149047421042979?s=20
The Governor argues that counties losing revenue can offset those losses by cutting waste and bureaucratic red tape — or by coming to his desk to ask for funding.
For the 29 fiscally constrained counties, he's even offered to cover the approximately $250 million hit from the state budget, calling it "budget dust."¹¹
Property taxes have increased more than 108% over the past decade in Florida, according to Florida TaxWatch.¹²
That far outpaces the 17.5% population growth and 31.8% inflation growth during that same period.
In other words, property taxes aren't going up because Florida needs more money.
They're going up because local governments figured out they can squeeze homeowners and nobody will stop them.
What This Means for Florida's Future
DeSantis is building something unprecedented in Florida — a state with no income tax and potentially no property tax on homes.
That would be a magnet for Americans fleeing high-tax states run by Democrats.
The legendary economist Milton Friedman argued that "the least bad tax is the property tax on the unimproved value of land."¹³
But even Friedman would recognize that Florida's property tax system has become a vehicle for runaway government spending rather than funding essential services.
https://twitter.com/GovRonDeSantis/status/1937548516886200657?s=20
As Friedman also said, "I am in favor of cutting taxes under any circumstances and for any excuse, for any reason, whenever it's possible."¹⁴
DeSantis is trying to deliver exactly that.
The question is whether House Republicans will get out of his way or keep playing political games while Florida homeowners foot the bill.
The 2026 legislative session starts January 13.
Florida voters deserve one clear choice on the ballot: eliminate property taxes on homestead properties, yes or no.
Anything else is just politicians protecting their friends in local government at the expense of the people who elected them.
¹ Newsweek, "Ron DeSantis Updates Florida on 2026 Plan for Property Tax Vote," August 28, 2025.
² Florida Phoenix, "DeSantis dismisses House proposals on property tax reduction in 2026," October 23, 2025.
³ WUSF, "Florida Legislature begins review of efforts to reduce, eliminate property taxes," November 1, 2025.
⁴ Florida Phoenix, "DeSantis dismisses House proposals on property tax reduction in 2026," October 23, 2025.
⁵ Washington Examiner, "Feud between DeSantis and Florida House speaker flares up over governor's promise to veto sales tax plan," May 8, 2025.
⁶ WUSF, "Gov. DeSantis threatens to veto plan including sales tax cut amid feud with House Speaker Perez," May 7, 2025.
⁷ Phil Hall, "Gov. DeSantis: 'Age-specific property tax relief is a non-starter,'" WRE News, November 19, 2025.
⁸ Ibid.
⁹ Florida Policy Institute, "A Risky Proposition: Weakening Local Governments by Eliminating Property Tax Revenue," 2025.
¹⁰ Newsweek, "Ron DeSantis Updates Florida on 2026 Plan for Property Tax Vote," August 28, 2025.
¹¹ Florida Politics, "Governor says state can cover costs of eliminating homestead property tax in fiscally constrained counties," October 7, 2025; Andrew Moran, "Gov. DeSantis Kicks Off Nation's Property Tax Debate in FL," Liberty Nation, November 20, 2025.
¹² Business Observer, "Momentum for eliminating property taxes faces multiple obstacles, risks," October 27, 2025.
¹³ Andrew Moran, "Gov. DeSantis Kicks Off Nation's Property Tax Debate in FL," Liberty Nation, November 20, 2025.
¹⁴ Ibid.
