Editorial: DeSantis seeks to ram through a flawed property-tax plan

The best we can say about Gov. Ron DeSantis' plan to hack property taxes for homeowners across Florida is that it's not as bad as it could have been.

It's still pretty bad. DeSantis wants to rapidly grow Florida's homestead exemption, hiking it to $250,000 for 2027, then stepping up the exemption each year by law. Eventually most owner-occupied homes would not be taxed at all. And of course this sounds great to homeowners, who are being soaked by skyrocketing insurance costs and buffeted by wild fluctuations in other costs. If lawmakers put it on the ballot in November, there’s a good chance it will pass. The only real hope of stopping this is to educate voters about the very real risks associated with this plan.

That probably explains why DeSantis waited until the last possible minute to roll out his proposal. He wants them back in Tallahassee Monday to start working on it. And by "working on it," we mean taking his plan, putting a bill number on it and voting it out with minimal amendments, and no time for testimony or independent analysis. Senate President Ben Albritton may have signalled his inclination to do just that.

But regardless of how you feel about taxes, a change this big and fundamental needs detailed examination. The stakes are high. Many local governments will lose the ability to fund essential services and infrastructure that their constituents depend on. Not just amenities like parks, youth recreation programs and arts, though those would likely be first to go, but critical, life-saving efforts including help with mental health and substance abuse, homelessness and urban decay. (Many communities don't understand how much of a role local taxes play in those social services.) An inability to fund infrastructure like roads, bridges and libraries is another likely outcome - putting local governments in the position of having to approve construction of new homes and businesses with the sure knowledge that they don't have the ability to meet new residents' needs.

DeSantis claims that his plan protects "core services" including law enforcement and emergency services. Yet it omits the bright-line safeguard that was central to the plan the House passed in February, which restricted cities and counties from cutting spending on public safety, and did not include school taxes at all in the tax-cut plan. DeSantis also promises state money to help when local leaders can't raise the amount of money they need. Here's the problem with that pledge: At least once a year, legislators prove that they have no problem ignoring constitutional mandates - especially if they decide that state dollars would be better spent on giveaways to wealthy corporate interests or unproven political experiments like school vouchers. And the state budget is already on the rails toward a deficit, as early as next year . Where would all this extra cash come from? Does the state plan to hike the sales tax?

There's also little doubt that this will greatly increase the tax burden on properties that aren't homesteaded. That includes the buildings occupied by the small businesses that make up a large portion of the state's economy. It also covers the rental housing of low-wage workers whose hopes of ever owning their own homes are slim. While the governor slyly suggests that that one option would be to "tax the rich," that's highly unlikely to be Florida's political reality. Rich people and corporations have the resources to exploit loopholes and workarounds - which explains why many corporations have been able to structure their cash flow to avoid paying taxes they currently owe. Plugging that corporate-tax porthole would put about $2.4 billion back into state coffers - not in new taxes, but in money that is currently owed but never paid. The fact that nobody - not DeSantis, nor legislative leaders - is talking about that speaks volumes about the suggestion to "tax the rich."

If this were really a good idea, DeSantis and other state leaders would have insisted on the time and care needed to create the best possible plan. After all, the state House held its own hearings in January, which included far more time for testimony and debate than this week's discussions will have.

The best hope for Floridians is that the House insists on a plan that's closer to the one they passed earlier this year, but still does whatever it can to bolster the impact on communities across the state. If House and Senate cannot agree, there will be no ballot language in 2026 - opening the door for a more deliberative discussion.

That is what voters deserve: A careful examination of the risks and benefits of multiple tax proposals, and the chance to consider whether Florida needs this kind of drastic action at all, especially with a plan that will most benefit wealthy Floridians and could send cities and counties into fiscal meltdown.

The Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board consists of Opinion Editor Krys Fluker, Executive Editor Roger Simmons and Viewpoints Editor Jay Reddick. Use insight@orlandosentinel.com to contact us.

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This story was originally published May 31, 2026 at 12:59 PM.