DeSantis plan to cut Florida property taxes heads to ballot

Florida lawmakers have approved a stripped-down version of a proposal from Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) to slash property taxes, removing local school districts from the plan.

The Florida House and Senate on Tuesday passed joint resolutions (HJR 1F/SJR 2F) that will permit voters to consider cuts to residential property taxes through an amendment to the state constitution. The resolutions authorize a referendum vote on the constitutional question in the Nov. 3 general election.

The House passed its version of the joint resolution 75-26. The Senate quickly followed with a 30-9 vote. The Republican-controlled House and the Senate also approved legislation (HB 3F/SB 4F) establishing a framework for implementing the constitutional revision—assuming more than 60% of voters support the ballot proposal in November.

If approved, the tax cutting strategy will likely remove $13 billion from the coffers of local governments in its first two years—a revenue shift that, "would fundamentally reshape the relationship between counties and the state," said Jeff Brandes, a former Republican state senator who runs the Florida Policy Project, a nonprofit research institute.

"Nobody in all of Florida understands how this is going to play out," he added. "We have no models, no math, nothing. It's budget chaos."

The enabling legislation now goes to DeSantis for his signature. The joint resolution is "self executing" and doesn't require approval from DeSantis, said H. French Brown, a tax partner with law firm Jones Walker LLP in Tallahassee.

"What we're doing here today is we're giving our residents an opportunity not only to get immediate property tax relief, but really to let our local governments know whether they're doing a good job or not," said Sen. Bryan Avila (R), who chairs the Senate Finance and Tax Committee.

The action came during a two-day special legislative session to address property tax cuts. Lawmakers finished a similar special session last Friday that approved a $114.5 billion budget for fiscal 2027.

Future revenue gaps

Meanwhile, Democratic lawmakers said the constitutional shift would saddle local governments with dangerous revenue gaps that will undermine critical community services. They warned a feel-good vote on property tax relief today would end with a local government revenue crisis for the legislature to solve in a few years.

"A yes vote tells your constituents that you believe this is smart policy that can actually help them. And we don't know that," Senate Minority Leader Lori Berman (D) said during the floor debate. "We can still vote this down and show we are serious about governing, and serious about fully funding our police, our firefighters, our roads, our animal control, and everything else communities expect of government."

The resolution asks voters to amend the constitution by raising the current $50,000 exemption on homesteads, or primary residences, to $150,000 of the assessed value in 2027. The exemption would rise to $250,000 in 2028, and float higher in subsequent years under a rule indexing it for inflation.

DeSantis's initial proposal was amended during committee meetings Monday to spare local school districts from the tax-cutting formula.

The decision to carve school districts from the formula came after lawmakers examined a fiscal analysis of the proposal. It estimated the plan would reduce property tax revenue to school districts by $3.4 billion in 2027 and $5.6 billion in 2028. The same analysis projected the tax losses to local governments would total $4.6 billion in 2027 and $8.4 billion in 2028.

DeSantis didn't immediately comment on the adjustments to his property tax proposal, but Brandes said he will likely embrace the package as an important final achievement after eight years in the governor's mansion. The property tax measure comes amid speculation DeSantis will run for president again in 2028. DeSantis lost in the 2024 Republican primary to President Donald Trump.

"It's all for him to run on in '28. DeSantis doesn't have to eat his own cooking here," Brandes said, adding DeSantis' successor as governor will have to "deal with the dumpster fire."