By David L. Snelling

Miami – Florida House Speaker Daniel Perez is exploring creating a select committee to study the impact of eliminating or reducing property taxes, a proposal similar to Gov. Ron DeSantis’ plan to eliminate them altogether.

Perez’s initiative would place the issue on the 2026 ballot for voters to approve a Florida constitutional amendment to abolish property taxes.

DeSantis and GOP leaders clashed over property and sales tax proposals during the final weeks of the Legislative Session and couldn’t agree on a budget for the 2025-206 fiscal year.

They are roughly $4.4 billion apart.

Lawmakers will return to Tallahassee on May 12 to negotiate a budget by the end of June which goes into effect on July 1, 2025.

The dispute centers around proposed sales tax reduction: Perez is seeking an overall reduction from 6 percent to 5.25 percent, saving Floridians about $5 billion annually.

However, Senate President Ben Albritton said the amount may force the state to cut funding for education, health care and other services as Florida’s population is surging.

Albritton recommended eliminating sales taxes on clothing items under $75.

DeSantis is hoping both chambers approve his proposal to give homeowners some relief with a $1,000 property tax break for Florida residents with homestead exemption.

His plan was not included in the budget when the regular session ended on May 2.

DeSantis’ plan also includes completely slashing property taxes altogether for local governments but Perez said the governor’s proposal without a study to determine the impact is harmful.

Perez (R-Miami) said property tax revenues help Florida cities and counties fund critical municipal services including police, fire rescue, providing affordable housing and infrastructure upgrades.

He said the governments rely on more than $50 billion in tax revenues which could leave them financially-strapped and forced to cut vital services if property taxes are abolished.

“If property taxes go away, how would local governments pay for the services we expect local governments to provide like police, fire and infrastructure?” Perez asked. “Unfortunately, as the weeks have gone by, the government has not yet come forward with any specific answers to those questions or with a specific plan or with actual bill language”

Perez said the committee should explore several property tax amendments including requiring all local governments to hold referendums on eliminating homestead property taxes, raising the homestead property tax exemption from $50,000 to $500,000 for non-school taxes, with a $1 million exemption for homestead ownerships over 65 who have had a homestead in Florida for 30 years, and banning the government from foreclosing on homestead property for unpaid taxes.

“These proposals are intended to be a springboard for the committee’s work,” Perez said. “They are a starting point, not an end goal.”

DeSantis said taxes from hotels and tourism could offset local government revenues to fund services if property taxes were abolished.

“Property taxes effectively require homeowners to pay rent to the government,” DeSantis said in a news release, “Constitutional protections for Florida homeowners require approval of the voters in 2026. In the meantime, Floridians need relief.” He said his rebate would mark a major step toward his “long-term goal of eliminating property taxes through a future constitutional amendment.”

The governor said residential homeowners are burdened with property taxes when they can use the money for maintenance and repairs.

He said property taxes are akin to borrowing the land from the government instead of owning it outright.

In another contentious move, the House approved roughly a $5.008 tax package after shifting money collected for tourism marketing.

The bill would direct money raised through a tax on hotel stays to be shifted to offset property taxes starting in 2026.

The change to the bill would allow 25 percent of the so-called “bed tax” money to continue to be used for tourism marketing.

Tourism agencies and other critics said such a proposal would reduce the number of visitors which is a mainstay of Florida’s economy.

Another battle in the Florida Legislature centered around Republicans ending a mental health research center which was proposed to be named after Senator Darryl Rouson, a Democrat from St. Petersburg.

An amendment was recently added to the Senate bill that would add a research center at the University of South Florida and name it after Rouson, who was once homeless and an addict.

But the House stripped the center, which created tensions within the Senate chamber.

“I was truly touched that every single member present in the chamber, 37 to 0, signed on to co-sponsor the amendment. The establishment of this center means a great deal, to those who believe in advancing mental health care with evidence-based compassion,” Rouson told reporters.

According to lawmakers, if the Senate rejected the House’s changes and returned the original bill as amended, the entire bill would be in jeopardy.