Eliminate Property Taxes in Florida? What the Republicans Are Up To

Governor DeSantis made headlines last February when he suggested that legislators place a constitutional amendment on the 2026 ballot to get rid of property taxes on homesteaded properties in Florida. Later, he doubled down, calling such taxes "basically paying rent to the government to live on your own property."

DeSantis soon got into a pitched war of words with House Speaker and Kendall representative Danny Perez, who favored slashing sales taxes instead. Despite the spat, Perez created a Select Committee on Property Taxes in April, and in September announced the roll-out of an octet of Republican proposals featuring a wide array of property tax reform options.

On Next Week’s Legislative Agenda

On Thursday, November 20, the Select Committee that Perez appointed will consider the full range of options, with the end goal of passing one bill, two bills, three bills,--or even all eight–during the opening week of the 2026 Legislative Session. Here they are, with links in the bill numbers to the House staff analysis of each bill’s effect:

HJR 201 (Steele)–Elimination of Non-school Property Tax for Homesteads
HJR 203 (Miller)–Phased Out Elimination of Non-school Property Tax for Homesteads
HJR 205 (Porras–West Kendall) Elimination of Non-School Property Tax for Homesteads for Persons Age 65 or Older
HJR 207 (Abbott)--Assessed Home Value Homestead Exemption of non-School Property Tax
Proposed Committee Substitute for HJR 209 (Busatta–Coral Gables)--Property Insurance Relief Homestead Exemption of Non-school Property Tax (no staff analysis yet; bill provides up to a $225,000 exemption if the homesteaded property is covered by a comprehensive multiperil insurance policy)
HJR 211 (Overdorf)--Accrued Save-Our-Homes Property Tax Benefit for Non-school Property Tax
HJR 213 (Griffitts, Jr.)--Modification of Limitations on Property Assessment Increases
HB 215 (Albert)--Ad Valorem Taxation

Real-World Consequences of Specific Property Tax Reform Proposals

The Florida Policy Institute has developed a county-specific interactive calculator that provides some insight into the effect on local governments of several possible reform proposals. Here are the results for Miami-Dade County:

County budget:

Eliminating property taxes all together would result in a $3.72 billion revenue loss, or about 19% of the total budget.
Eliminating property tax on all homesteaded (not commercial) properties would yield a $899 million loss, about 5.23%.
An additional $25,000 homestead exemption would cost $71 million, or .41% of revenues from property taxes.
An additional $50,000 homestead exemption would cost $136 million, or .79% of revenues from property taxes.
An additional $100,000 homestead exemption would cost $251 million, or 1.46% of revenues from property taxes.
An additional $500,000 homestead exemption would cost $640 million, or 3.72% of revenues from property taxes.

School district budget (so far not under consideration for reform):

Eliminating property taxes all together would result in a $3.701 billion revenue loss
Eliminating property tax on all homesteaded properties would yield a $977 million loss, or about 26% of all property tax-generated revenues

Municipal budgets (collectively):

Eliminating property taxes all together would result in a collective revenue loss of $1.808.94 billion
Eliminating tax only on homesteaded properties would reduce collective revenues by $497.32 million

Bear in Mind

Property taxes fund public safety, sidewalks and sewers, parks, cultural events, infrastructure and road maintenance, and general government operations.
As proposed constitutional amendments, each of these bills must pass both legislative chambers by a ⅗ vote.
If passed by both chambers, these measures are not subject to veto or judicial review, but are placed directly on the 2026 General Election ballot.
In Florida, all proposed constitutional amendments must be approved by 60% of those voting.
In their current form, these bills exempt school district taxes from their proposed reforms. Bills are subject to amendment
Faced with budget shortfalls due to decreased property tax revenues, local governments may seek to impose higher sales taxes or user fees, and may increase tax rates for non-homestead properties (commercial properties, agricultural lands).
Every minute spent on discussing property tax reform is a minute not spent on property insurance reform.

No Republicans are discussing how local governments might compensate for lost revenues.

Stay tuned. We’ll update you following the committee hearing.

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