Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has continued his criticism of the Republican-led House of Representatives for failing to present a single proposed constitutional amendment on property tax relief.
Florida Phoenix reports DeSantis expressed disappointment with House Speaker Daniel Perez for rolling out seven potential amendments that could be placed on the 2026 ballot, suggesting that Perez does not want to see property taxes slashed.
“It’s got to be very clearly written and give people a chance to vote for it,” said DeSantis in an address at the Tampa campus of the University of South Florida. “What you don’t do is put five [constitutional amendments] on there…because they’re going to be written in ways that are not going to be clear – and so there’s going to create confusion on the ballot.”
Constitutional amendments can only pass if 60% of voters approve the proposal, which the governor felt could not happen with multiple rival proposals on the ballot. One Democrat, Sen. Mack Bernard, filed four proposed constitutional amendments on property taxes last week, but these have not been lined up for ballot consideration.
DeSantis added, “Just understand what they’re trying to do in the Florida House – they put out a bunch of proposals. They’re all milquetoast. There’s not one proposal that would get people excited about. Not one. So they’re total half measures. Which is not what people are asking for. People want to be bold. So just right there’s a problem. But they say, ‘No, we’re just going to put it all out to let the people decide. We’ll put five on the ballot and let the people decide.’ First of all, the Senate’s not going to do that. But if that were to be done, that is a way to kill any type of getting property tax reform. Because different voters are going to read different things and none of them are going to end up getting 60%.”
I agree,there should be one proposal for tax relief. Let’s see if it passes.
Put a clear and concise amendment for voters who own primary residences in Florida, to make the decision. There is plenty of waste in local governments. Many property owners are paying for inept employees. Gas being guzzled as some government officials leave their government vehicles running while they are not in them for long periods of time. Schools that are not performing getting the lions share of taxes, but have not improved over the years. Many of the tax contributors do not have any children attending school. Frivolous waste on necessary projects. Many local governments do not listen to their constituencies and make decisions that only benefit a few. Let the homesteaded residents decide.
Bernard and his corrupt phonies file 4 constitutional amendments only to confuse the voting public because they don’t want to lose $ they stuff in their pockets from our property tax payments. Eliminating property taxes for full time Florida residents is good for the economy but bad for the corrupt politicians. And it’s and easy fix for the shortfall. Add a 1/4% to sales tax, tax foreigners and those that aren’t full time Floridians, and increase the tourism tax
We need insurance reform! Get the money out of the pockets for voting with insurance companies, DeSantis!!!
Corruption has no limits, so it seems. There are a lot of seniors who cannot afford to pay property taxes. If an increase of other taxes were to be placed on the ballots it would ease the pain of the property tax. It would mean a little will go a long way to help and a consistent amount for the state of Florida.