Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis Unveils His Plan To Virtually Eliminate Property Taxes

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has unveiled his plan to radically reform the state's property tax system, potentially eliminating taxes on most owner-occupied homes.

DeSantis called for a special legislative session to begin on Monday, when state lawmakers can consider putting a new initiative to make homestead property tax-free on the ballot. If approved, Florida voters would be able to vote on it in November.

"Taxing something that you own repeatedly, which is a property tax, is the worst way to do taxation," DeSantis said at a press conference on Wednesday.

"You pay all these taxes to acquire that property, and then, year after year, you have to write a check just for the privilege of being able to maintain ownership of something that is supposedly yours."

DeSantis proposed raising the state's homestead exemption, currently set at $50,000 for owner-occupied houses, to a $250,000 limit. He estimated that this would eliminate property tax for 60% of Florida homeowners.

In general, a "homestead" property in Florida is defined as a person's primary residence, one they must live in and own or have a primary interest in. If the effort succeeds, Florida will become the first state in the nation with no property taxes.

"If it's successful, when you raise it to the $500,000 limit, that's 92% of all Florida residents [who] would be tax-free. I think this bottom-up approach is a better approach," the governor said.

How would it work?

DeSantis said he supported a phased approach to eliminate the tax, moving up from the $250,000 baseline. He didn't think he could get political support for an outright abolition of property taxes in the Legislature.

Those who move to the state after the law could be compelled to pay taxes for up to five years. That would prevent a mass migration into the state, DeSantis said.

The homestead residential property tax makes up about a third of property tax revenues to local government. Local governments took in about $32 billion from property taxes in 2019, DeSantis said. But now, governments take in almost $60 billion. At this rate, $83 billion would be collected by 2032.

DeSantis said that's because of inflating property values in the state. He said he thinks the system should be reformed outright as homeowners face inflated burdens.

"There's not really a connection to what you're consuming and what they're charging you," DeSantis said.

Meanwhile, the cities will rely on tax revenue from second homes and commercial properties. Florida cities bring in between $50 billion and $55 billion of that revenue. But it can go up as the economy expands, DeSantis said.

The state could create a trust fund to provide grants to local governments for core services. That helps rural areas with smaller tax bases, DeSantis said.

Florida's property tax problem

While property tax burdens are rising in every state, Florida has seen some of the sharpest increases in years, according to LendingTree. Tampa saw its property tax increase 7.7% from 2023 to 2024, more than any other city in the nation. The median property tax paid there was $2,569 in 2024.

Also in the top 10 by median property tax increase were Miami ($3,823, up 7.1%), Jacksonville ($2,549, up 6.2%), and Orlando ($2,749, up 6.1%.)

Realtor.com® has estimated that property values in the state would jump 7% to 9% right away if property taxes were eliminated. That could boost the aggregate value of its housing stock by $200 billion to $250 billion—and make homes less affordable for first-time buyers, says Realtor.com senior economist Joel Berner.

However, DeSantis' proposal to tax homebuyers who move from out of state could lessen that blow by helping to prevent a flood of new demand for the state's housing stock.

Some states have considered property tax rollbacks recently, including Ohio. A similar bill was recently introduced in Michigan.

In a statement, the Florida League of Cities said it has "serious concerns" about the proposal. It's found that 85 cities won't be able to fund public safety at the same level, even if they eliminated every other service funded by property taxes. That includes prominent cities such as Fort Myers, Key West, and Pensacola.

"An independent property tax study, modeling a $250,000 homestead exemption, found that some cities could see their tax base reduced so significantly that maintaining current levels of essential services would be at risk—with smaller communities facing the steepest impact," it said in a statement.