Florida Gov. DeSantis defends Amendment 3 property tax relief for homesteads

Gov. Ron DeSantis says naysayers of Amendment 3, which proposes property tax relief for homesteads, are putting governments’ needs before taxpayers.

During a press conference Friday, the governor said he believes the new ballot language for the amendment won’t face any issues after a judge ordered for it to be rewritten.

“It’s very straightforward, I think it’s very good,” DeSantis said. “I think people will be able to see this is a major additional protection for their homestead property which they, as taxpayers, deserve, and they’re going to be able to see how that’s structured.”

If passed by voters, the amendment will raise Florida’s homestead exemption to $150,000 the first year, then $250,000 the second year. DeSantis initially championed fully eliminating homestead property taxes.

“This is not as ambitious as I had hoped but I’m for it, I hope it passes. I think the arguments against it are basically an argument to say governments’ needs come before the needs of taxpayers. That’s not the way our system was designed. Our system was designed so that you can pursue happiness, that you can make the most of your God-given talents,” said DeSantis.

The last time Florida saw significant property tax relief was in 1980 when voters approved a constitutional amendment to raise the homestead exemption from $5,000 to $25,000.

“Do you think these local governments were in favor of doing that at the time?” DeSantis said. Of course not. Were they saying the sky was going to fall? Yes they were. Same stuff you hear now. Did the sky actually fall? No it didn’t. We haven’t had a major increase in the homestead exemption since 1980. There was a partial increase in 2008, which I think was fine, but after almost 20 years of having any homestead relief and close to 50 years to have really significant relief, I think taxpayers deserve the relief quite frankly.”

The feedback on Amendment 3 from local governments has largely been negative, with estimates being posted about how much revenue they stand to lose.

For example, Orange County said it anticipates losing $165 million the first year and $275 million the next.

The county’s concerns have been hedged by a report from Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia earlier this year where he said he found more than $300 million in the Orange County budget as “excessive, wasteful spending.”

DeSantis said, given increased budgets local municipalities have seen over the last few years, property tax relief for residents should be manageable.

“They’ve gotten almost twice the revenue that they got just seven or eight years ago,” said DeSantis, adding: “You can’t keep spending at this level indefinitely.”