DeSantis’ crusade to decouple Florida’s local governments from property taxes
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis wants property taxes in his state abolished. If his final State of the State address this week is any indication, it’s a hill the lame duck Republican is willing to die on.
DeSantis described residents being “locked into their homes” due to the tax levels for a new residence. “Others have been priced out of the market entirely,” he told lawmakers.
But the hill could be a tough one to climb, let alone die on. Slaying the property tax dragon would require a constitutional change with a high bar of voter approval to do so. In addition, competing proposals to lower property taxes threaten to clog the lane so much that none get past the finish line. Underlying all of that process is the question of whether the state’s local governments could still do what’s needed without their main source of revenue.
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Local property tax revenue in Florida has risen from $32 billion to $56 billion over the last seven years.
Floridian homeowners aren’t paying Illinois taxes, not even close. But the Sunshine State is a fast horse when it comes to rising home values and the associated tax hit.
Two factors largely determine how much a property owner pays. First is the percentage of taxation each local unit of government demands. The second is how much a home is worth determined via an assessment typically done at the county level.
Assessments look at home improvements as well as what comparable properties nearby are selling for. COVID-19 inflation and low interest rates sent home values in Florida soaring. A 2024 study by Point2 found home values there doubled in just six years. Assessments followed suit.
It’s this notion that led DeSantis to call for a special session with the goal of eventually abolishing the state’s property taxes.
Competing tax cuts
One of the quickest ways to kill a ballot measure is to give voters a host of similar options on the same ballot.
According to Florida Politics, lawmakers have proposed eight measures aimed at tackling property taxes. As of Wednesday, just one is ready for a full House vote.
DeSantis, who spent 2025 feuding with fellow Republicans who control both legislative chambers, sided with Democrats in opposing the slate of ballot measures.
“If you put multiple possible amendments on the ballot, that means none will pass,” DeSantis said in an April 2025 news conference.
Blood from a turnip
By multiple metrics, there isn’t much governmental fat to trim in the peninsula. Florida’s government spends less money per capita than any other state, according to U.S. Census data. While it has 1,947 units of local government, that is fewer than other states of comparable population and miles behind Illinois’ nation-leading 6,930 taxing bodies.
The state educates 2.8 million public school students in just 67 districts, one per county. Texas has more than 1,000.
Its overall tax burden is kept low by the absence of several kinds of taxes seen elsewhere in the U.S. such as income or capital gains taxes. It has attracted wealth like moths to a flame.
In lieu of cuts, that revenue would have to come from one of the few levers schools, fire departments and other local services have left to pull.
The left-leaning Florida Policy Institute estimates that the state’s sales tax would need to double to 12% to fill the void left by property taxes, a percentage that would be the highest in the nation. The right-leaning Tax Foundation lists Louisiana’s 9.55% combined state and average local sales tax rate as the highest in 2025.
Losing by winning
Another complicating factor in the crusade for home affordability is that scrapping property taxes will make home prices increase.
Potential buyers don’t just look at the big number on a Zillow listing when they’re house hunting. They consider the total monthly mortgage cost. If the monthly escrow of property taxes is more than the amount paying down the loan, it will shrink the size of house the buyer can afford. Inversely, the lack of a property tax would let a home buyer shop among higher price tags.
Realtor.com’s economic team estimates Florida’s home prices would jump 9% on average if DeSantis succeeds in abolishing property taxes.
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Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
