Ron DeSantis’ Property Tax Plans Laying Ground for 2028: ...

By Giulia Carbonaro

Senior Housing Reporter

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Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ push for eliminating property taxes in the state is a “bumper sticker” aimed at propping up a potential bid for the presidency in 2028, former state senator and founder and president of the Florida Policy ProjectJeff Brandes, a Republican, has told Newsweek.

“If you’re running for president in 2028, you want to be able to say, ‘I argued to cut taxes in Florida. I wanted to cut all homestead property taxes,’” Brandes said in Tampa on November 13, after the "Debate-a-Bull" forum hosted by the University of South Florida (USF) Institute for Public Policy & Leadership.

“But again, you’re not talking about the other side of the equation. You’re on one side. This is why it’s a bumper sticker. It's not a real policy proposal,” he said.

What Has DeSantis Said About Property Tax Reform?

In February, DeSantis said he would have backed any attempt to eliminate, reform or lower property taxes in the state, describing “taxing land/property” as “the more oppressive and ineffective form of taxation.”

While acknowledging that abolishing the taxes in Florida would require a constitutional amendment backed by 60 percent of the voters, DeSantis said in March that Floridians needed relief even before that could be achieved.

On the same day, he called on the legislature to pass a measure offering an average of $1,000 in rebate checks for each homestead “as a discount on their property taxes.”

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Since then, he has repeatedly criticized Florida lawmakers for not acting with the same urgency he thinks is needed to provide relief to homeowners struggling with higher property taxes.

“Truly owning private property should not mean perpetually paying rent to the government. I’m committed to reducing—and ultimately eliminating—property taxes for homeowners in Florida,” he wrote in a post on X in May. “While Florida ranks at or near the top in so many categories, the state is only ranked #21 when it comes to property taxes.”

What Are Florida Lawmakers Doing About It?

Last month, the Florida House of Representatives pushed forward as many as eight potential solutions to combat higher property taxes in the state, including eliminating them for non-school homesteads.

All bills—seven out of which are set to appear on the 2026 general election ballot—exclude school-related property taxes and include language stating that local governments cannot cut funding to law enforcement.

The 47-year-old governor has harshly criticized lawmakers for coming out with a multitude of solutions. “Placing more than one property tax measure on the ballot represents an attempt to kill anything on property taxes,” DeSantis said in a post on X last month. “It’s a political game, not a serious attempt to get it done for the people.”

House Speaker Daniel Perez, who has justified the multitude of bills as a way of letting voters decide what they want, has hit back at DeSantis, saying in a statement reported by several news media that “the governor has not produced a plan on property taxes. Period.”

He added: “It’s unclear what he wants to do. I’ve personally reached out to share with him the House’s proposals and he has, so far, not wanted to engage in a conversation.”

Brandes is also somewhat skeptical of the eight bills, saying that he does not expect any of them to pass.

“I think there will be some combination of the eight or some modification to all of these proposals,” he told Newsweek. “The Senate is not going to take any—I don’t think—of the House proposals at face value and support it.”

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But he is even more skeptical of the governor.

“He’s got a bumper sticker. It’s not a real proposal. He’s vetoed the study on this. He's had a year now to come up with a plan, and he's refused to come up with a plan,” he told Newsweek.

“And they’re either going to come up with some last-minute plan that people don't have time to study and review, or he's just not going to come up with a plan, which I think is likely to be what happens.”

Is DeSantis Likely To Run in 2028?

There are mostly rumors so far about who is going to run in the 2028 presidential race, whether that is for the Democratic Party or the Republican Party.

DeSantis already made an unsuccessful bid for the presidency in 2024, taking part in the Republican primary eventually won by President Donald Trump. A spokesperson for the governor responded to Newsweek’s request for comment on property tax reforms, but did not address our question about a potential run in the 2028 presidential race.

On Sunday, DeSantis brushed aside a question from CNN’s Jake Tapper about a potential bid, saying: “I’m not thinking about anything because I think we have a president now who has not even been in for a year. We’ve got a lot that we’ve got to accomplish.”

But polls are giving the Florida governor little optimism for another possible run. The latest Emerson College survey gives him only 2 percent of the vote in a hypothetical Republican primary, with a majority of voters (54 percent) backing Vice President JD Vance.

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