Florida Gov. DeSantis targets ‘bloated' local budgets in property tax slash push

Yahoo

22-05-2025

With Florida lawmakers now in overtime trying to settle a state budget, the prime source of financing for many cities and counties could soon be headed for the chopping block.
In whatever budget deal is decided by the Legislature, Gov. Ron DeSantis wants included some kind of commitment to rolling back property taxes – now or through a ballot question put before voters next year.
He's been amplifying claims that rising home values are giving many communities a windfall of property tax dollars that are translating into big spending and bloated bureaucracies.
'Yes — and they don't lower the assessments when the housing market declines. Heads they win, tails you lose,' DeSantis recently posted on X.
The governor ratcheted up his pitch May 20 in a podcast that he opened with the question, 'Do you ever own your own home?'
He went on, 'You have to continue writing a check to the government, every year, just for the privilege of being able to use property that you supposedly already own.'
DeSantis and the Republican-controlled Legislature have steadily targeted local governments over the past few years with legislation limiting their ability to tax and regulate.
Some of it reflects a nationwide trend of red state governments looking to stamp out any sign of blue-leaning local policies. But slashing property taxes takes this drive to another level.
No state has yet eliminated property taxes and in Florida they are the biggest source of dollars for 51 of 67 counties and almost half of the state's 411 cities.
Property taxes have been part of Florida since 1839, even before statehood. A territorial enactment provided a tax 'on every acre of first-rate land, half a cent; on every acre of second-rate land, one quarter cent; on every acre of third-rate land, one-eighth of a cent.'
Now, even some Republican lawmakers acknowledge the effort may not be as simple as DeSantis portrays it. Crafting an across-the-board cut would eliminate dollars which governments rely on for dozens of needed services.
Rep. Dean Black, a Jacksonville Republican and former Duval County GOP chair, called property taxes 'a profound and indispensable source of revenue' for financing police and fire protection. He even worried that some communities might respond by 'defunding' law enforcement.
Still, DeSantis sees it one way.
'Rising property values — and the increase in revenue due to increased assessments — have become a piggy bank for local governments to use to increase spending,' DeSantis said in another X post.
Data shows that Florida's previously red-hot housing market has certainly yielded a bounty of property tax collections. More than $55 billion in property taxes flowed to counties, cities, school boards and Florida's special districts last year – more than double what was collected in 2014.
Moreover, it's 46% higher than the amount taken in statewide just four years ago, state records show.
But while tax receipts rose 13% in each of 2022 and 2023, last year's 8% rise reflected that house prices and sales were falling or at least leveling off.
Even the smaller increase shows Florida is still growing. And along with more tax dollars, the demand for government services also may be increasing in these swelling cities and counties.
But state Sen. Blaise Ingoglia, R-Spring Hill, who joined DeSantis for his recent podcast recorded in the governor's Capitol office, said local governments are mostly just spending.
'They are taking that extra money, they're not even being anywhere near frugal with the money. They're just expanding government,' Ingoglia said.
DeSantis earlier proposed sending $1,000 checks this year to Floridians with a homestead exemption. But that idea drew no interest in the Legislature.
In a shift, DeSantis said on his podcast that wiping out property taxes on homesteaded properties could be replaced with $300 million in state funds. DeSantis said he had 'run the numbers' on this concept.
Beyond that, replacing property taxes with any other local levy looks up in the air.
When lawmakers return to the Capitol in coming days to continue work on the state budget, the fate of the governor's proposal is worth watching in a Legislature where he's been clashing with House Speaker Daniel Perez, R-Miami, over a range of policy areas.
Perez has formed a Select Committee on Property Taxes, which is expected to meet off-and-on into the fall to come up with proposals for the 2026 Legislature.
Property tax rates vary by the city and county. But most experts say tax rates aren't rising dramatically. Instead, governments are getting increased tax revenues when homes are reassessed at the time of sale or improvements.
Most homeowners who stay in their homes aren't getting hit by huge tax reassessments, analysts say.
Instead, home sales are a big driver of the revenue flowing into local government coffers – some of it from the influx of new residents. DeSantis often touts those new residents as an affirmation of his leadership.
Some communities, especially small cities, rely almost exclusively on property taxes for dollars. Other locations, including Orlando and Sarasota, have more diverse revenue sources and property taxes amount to less than 15% of their revenue.
Counties also are across the board.
Palm Beach, Volusia and Leon counties draw more than one-third of their dollars from property taxes, while Miami-Dade, Okaloosa and Sarasota counties collect less than 20% of revenue from the levies.
Kurt Wenner, a senior vice-president of research at Florida TaxWatch, the business-backed research organization, said most Floridians aren't facing significant property tax increases, because of a range of safeguards built into the system.
Among them is the state's Save our Home law, which limits assessment increases for people living in a primary residence to no more than 3% annually.
'If you're just living in your house, and you're not doing anything with it, your taxes are not really going up much,' Wenner said.
But there are exceptions – sometimes, voter-approved tax increases.
TaxWatch research shows that 13 property tax referenda for schools, worth $632 million in annual tax revenue, were approved by voters last year.
Since 2010, 122 school property tax referenda, worth $4.2 billion in annual tax revenue, have been approved.
Last year, 18 bond issues, to be paid back using property taxes, also were approved across Florida, TaxWatch found.
Local governments are fueled by property taxes at varying degrees. And this could play a role in what kind of opposition emerges if a November 2025 ballot measure is put before voters on property taxes.
The Republican Party of Florida has become a DeSantis ally in the push for property tax relief. A ballot measure, which would need at least 60% approval, could prove a vote-driver in Florida during the presidential midterm elections.
But government service organizations, including police and fire unions, are likely to be wary of any proposed cuts. What side voters end up on may depend on how their community is spending their tax dollars.
DeSantis, though, sees only good things by erasing property taxes: 'I think it would cause the state to boom,' he said.
John Kennedy is a reporter in the USA TODAY Network's Florida Capital Bureau. He can be reached at [e-mail], or on X at @JKennedyReport.
Across the state, the role property taxes play in keeping local governments afloat varies. Here are Florida cities and counties which rely most and least on property taxes. Percent is share of total revenue. (Source: Office of Economic and Demographic Research, State of Florida)
Cities most dependent on property taxes
Bay Lake 98.3%
Lake Buena Vista 97.4%
Weeki Wachee 90.2%
Lazy Lake 79.7%
Sea Ranch Lakes 79.2%
Indian Creek 77.6%
Indiantown 76.9%
Belleair Shore 74.6%
Orchid 69.3%
Ocean Ridge 67.9%
Cities least dependent
Apopka 11%
Orlando 11.7%
Plant City 12.6%
Port Orange 13.1%
Holly Hill 13.1%
Dade City 13.1%
Sarasota 13.2%
Orange Park 13.5%
Ocoee 13.8%
Clermont 14.2%
Most dependent counties
Flagler 47.27%
Nassau 44.17%
Sumter 39.89%
Martin 38.36%
St. Lucie 38.26%
Palm Beach 36.6%
Volusia 34.54%
Seminole 33.82%
Putnam 33.75%
Leon 33.4%
Least dependent counties
Liberty 12.8%
Union 16.15%
Miami-Dade 16.52%
Okaloosa 18.58%
Sarasota 18.91%
Holmes 20.1%
Charlotte 21.55%
Manatee 21.82%
Calhoun 21.86
Marion 22.92%
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Amid deadlock on budget, DeSantis pushes to cut property taxes