Gov. Ron DeSantis promises that “when the dust settles” there will be a Special Session dedicated to a constitutional amendment to get rid of homestead property taxes.
But he acknowledges he has to “work with the Legislature” to get the language right.
“The question is: What are 3/5 of each house (of the Legislature) willing to put on the ballot? And how is that going to be structured?” DeSantis said in Kissimmee.
DeSantis said earlier this week he was “working with legislators” to find agreeable language, even as House Speaker Daniel Perez told a reporter last weekend that he and his colleagues hadn’t seen the proposal.
Even though the leader of the House hasn’t seen the pitch, DeSantis says they’ll likely pass it once they do.
“We know that we have until August, so there will be a Special Session to do the property tax. And my sense would be, we’ll get there probably on the first try. But if not, there will be more of those Sessions until they put something on the ballot. I don’t think that they can go back to the voters without having put something on the ballot,” DeSantis speculated.
Legislators are in Tallahassee next week for a Special Session on congressional redistricting, artificial intelligence restrictions and “medical freedom.” They aim to return the week of May 11 to begin budget deliberations. With that in mind, time is becoming a precious commodity, particularly for those running for office this cycle.
It’s uncertain how much political pushback there will be given that polling says voters aren’t necessarily on board with the concept, at least in sufficient numbers to pass a proposal.
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.
What was once a lean, audaciously aspirational applause line proposal has been watered down this year with lawyerly considerations that arguably go against DeSantis’ previously stated desire to have something clean and simple on the ballot.
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.
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.
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