Gov. Ron DeSantis continues to delay releasing his long-promised proposal to allow voters to decide to eliminate homestead property taxes.
Speaking at a Florida State College Jacksonville campus, he seemed to suggest that despite months of work behind the scenes, the proposal does not have sufficient enthusiasm to launch even at this late date.
“We’ve been working with legislators on this. Obviously, I have a role in terms of being Governor and talking to the public about it, but I don’t have any authority to put it on the ballot — got to go through both houses of the Legislature. You need 60% of each house,” DeSantis said.
“I know the House took up some stuff and I’ve given them credit for doing that. The Senate, it wasn’t that they’re dragging their feet. They’ve just been working with us to get something that people will find meaningful on the ballot. But you’ve got to get the votes to do it, and you’ve got to make sure that you have all that lined up.”
He didn’t make clear whether the votes weren’t there in the Senate or House, or what the issue is in finding language that voters can understand.
Earlier this month, Lt. Gov. Jay Collins said if the measure is approved during Special Session and then by 60% of the voters, homeowners will “probably” have a “one- to three-year implementation cycle.”
DeSantis told Sean Hannity last month that the “timing” of the prospective relief was an issue, and Collins’ comments further show the Governor’s Office is backing down from its audacious initial proposal in favor of something more nuanced.
DeSantis has floated the idea of the state subsidizing the mere “budget dust” of what would have been property tax collections for 32 of the state’s 67 counties, an idea that incoming Speaker Sam Garrison says he opposes, suggesting that whatever Special Session is called for this concept will have some give and take and drama in the final product.
As DeSantis noted Wednesday, the House did pass HJR 203, a proposed constitutional amendment by Rep. Monique Miller to eliminate all non-school, non-emergency homestead taxes. However, it was not taken up by the Senate.
Even as a concept, eliminating homestead property taxes wouldn’t pass at this point.
Recent polling from the University of North Florida’s Public Opinion Research Lab (PORL) found that among likely Midterm voters in the Sunshine State, 56% are for gradually eliminating taxes on homesteaded property over 10 years, not counting taxes for schools and emergency services. That falls below the 60% threshold necessary to approve an amendment.
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