TALHASSEE, Fla. (WFLA) — Gov. Ron DeSantis was hoping it would be part of this year’s state budget.
“I would like to get a property tax refund this year,” Gov. DeSantis said during budget negotiations. “We’re working with the Senate on budget to pass it.”
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But now the budget has been passed and the session is officially wrapped, and property taxes have not made any final cuts.
Lawmakers said the debate over property tax reform has not ended.
“A property tax debate, let me say this, it’s alive and well,” Senate Speaker Ben Albritton said. “Just because we couldn’t find a way to implement it this year doesn’t mean the discussion is over.”
R-Wauchula’s Albritton, alongside house speakers Danny Perez and R-Miami, plans to continue meetings and conversations in the coming months, planning to ask the Floridian directly about what he wants to return to his hometown.
“We do everything in our power to make sure that Florida people have the opportunity to decide what they want to do with property tax,” Perez said. “Personally, we hope we can abolish them to a minimum and reduce them for certain people.”
Whether it’s a cut or a complete abolition of property taxes, lawmakers hope voters will decide in 2026.
But for some of the Capitol buildings, a complete removal fears that financially detained and rural counties will lose the revenue they expect.
But Desantis said he calculated the numbers.
“If I said tomorrow, the amount needed in Florida to fill all the financially constrained county revenue could be around $300 million a year. I’m just saying it’s a budget duster,” Desantis said.
Democrats argued it was devastating for local governments that rely on these dollars.
“It would be ridiculous to eliminate property taxes,” said D-Tampa Rep. Fentrice Driskell. “This is what the governor proposed and once again will completely bash our local governments that rely on those tax systems to operate and function for our communities.”
The governor could call lawmakers and return to Tallahassee to focus on property tax reform for another special session, but it remains unclear at this time whether he plans to do so.
