DeSantis proposes property tax break, disses idea for sales tax break
Gov. Ron DeSantis said he wants to save Floridians about $1,000 on their property tax bills over the next year, escalating a dispute with the House speaker over how to cut taxes this year.
During a Monday news conference, DeSantis said he wanted the state to pick up the tab for a portion of property taxes for about 5 million homesteaded properties. The maneuver would save those homeowners about $1,000 on their property tax bills, he said.
The proposal — which DeSantis did not include in his proposed budget for the next fiscal year — is a response to House Speaker Daniel Perez's surprise announcement last week that he wanted to permanently shave 0.75% from the state's sales tax.
Cutting the sales tax would save Floridians about $5 billion each year, the same amount as DeSantis' proposal.
'People, one, are not clamoring for sales tax relief, they're clamoring for property tax relief,' DeSantis said Monday. 'There's no property tax relief in that proposal.'
DeSantis said another problem with the House initiative is that it would benefit anyone who spends money in Florida, including 'foreigners … visitors and part-time residents.'
'I think the tax relief needs to be focused on Floridians,' DeSantis said. 'We need a Florida-first tax package.'
Senate President Ben Albritton wrote in a memo Monday that while he was 'open-minded to an 'all of the above' approach' regarding the two competing tax-relief efforts, he wanted the new tax cuts to be 'predominantly' for one year only.
'Cutting taxes now does little good if they have to be raised two years from now to address budget shortfalls,' Albritton wrote to senators. His comment refers to a projection by state economists that Florida is facing a $10 billion shortfall in the next three years.
Perez told the Times/Herald in a statement that he was 'pleased that the Governor has embraced the House's record-breaking spending reductions.'
'I welcome the Governor's proposal and look forward to more conversations on how we deliver meaningful tax relief for every Floridian to help make Florida more affordable, but just as importantly, to shrink the size and excess of government on all levels,' Perez said.
Perez told reporters last week that while he supported property tax cuts, the Legislature didn't have direct control over it like it does in cutting sales taxes.
DeSantis earlier this month said that he wanted lawmakers to come up with a constitutional amendment for the 2026 ballot to eliminate or reduce property taxes. Changing property taxes requires approval from at least 60% of voters in an election.
DeSantis' idea would give homeowners relief before then, if lawmakers approve it before the legislative session is scheduled to end May 2.
'This would be a kind of opening salvo to what the main event would be in November of 2026,' he said.
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