JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – As the end of his term nears, Gov. Ron DeSantis said he wants to make a major push to lower property taxes in Florida.
“We need to limit these property taxes in more ways than we do,” DeSantis said Friday during a news conference.
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DeSantis said one way that could happen would be to raise the homestead exemption for Florida homeowners. He said he wants to address property taxes to offset ongoing issues like rising interest rates, increasing home costs and homeowners insurance.
“Home prices have gone up. Part of it is inflation, but part of it in Florida is demand. It’s a lot of people that have demand to live here in Northwest Florida. I mean, it’s a hot spot and so, you have the home prices going up, interest rates have gone up. So people want to get a mortgage. That’s more difficult,” DeSantis said.
DeSantis said a major change in property taxes would require a constitutional amendment because the legislature or the governor can’t make changes alone. The amendment would likely not go before voters until 2026.
When someone owns a property and makes it his or her permanent residence or the permanent residence of his or her dependent, the property may be eligible to receive a homestead exemption up to $50,000.
The first $25,000 applies to all property taxes, including school district taxes. The additional exemption of up to $25,000 applies to the assessed value between $50,000 and $75,000 and only to non-school taxes, according to current Florida statutes.
If the assessed value is $100,000, the first $25,000 of value is exempt from all property tax, the next $25,000 of value is taxable, the third $25,000 of value is exempt from non-school taxes, and the remaining $25,000 of value is taxable, according to the Florida Department of Revenue.
DeSantis said he plans to work with the Florida Legislature before his term ends in January 2027 to get a possible constitutional amendment on the ballot to address the homestead exemption.
“We can’t control private markets, but we can control how much they can tax you. So we’re going to be working over the next year and a half to see what we can present for voters to be able to vote in the next election for some major, major property tax limitations and reliefs,” DeSantis said.
DeSantis on Friday did not specify how much he wanted to increase the homestead exemption.
