Let Floridians Vote to Abolish Property Taxes on Homes [WATCH]

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced plans to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot that would allow voters to decide whether to abolish property taxes on personal homes, arguing that true homeownership should not include ongoing taxation by the government.

Speaking about the proposal, DeSantis said the Florida Legislature does not have the constitutional authority to unilaterally reduce or eliminate local property taxes imposed by counties and cities.

“Able to help with property tax, but it’s not something I can just ask the legislature, Hey, cut the millage. Do this. Do that, because they don’t have constitutional authority to do the local taxes that is your counties and your cities. So what we’re going to do is we’re going to place a question on the ballot that is going to allow Floridians to be able to vote themselves relief from property tax.”

Here’s What They’re Not Telling You About Your Retirement

DeSantis outlined his broader vision for homeowners, stating that personal residences should not be subject to ongoing property taxation.

“And as I said, my vision is, you know, if you own your home, to truly own it, you have to own it free and clear of the government. You shouldn’t have to pay rent to the government.”

He distinguished between primary residences and other types of property, suggesting that different rules could apply to commercial or investment holdings.

“And you know, they’ll be ranked like, you know, people that are, you know, buying investment properties, like, fine, like, that’s different. Commercial, there’s, there’s, there’s differences. But your personal home, you know, we really believe should be, should not be subject to tax.”

This Could Be the Most Important Video Gun Owners Watch All Year

DeSantis characterized property taxes on personal homes as a levy on unrealized gains and compared the concept to vehicle taxation.

“It’s an unrealized gain. And I’m just one that’s like, you know, you if you tax me at point of sale, like, I buy a car and I pay a sales tax on it, but like, for me to then just, you know, pay a tax on the value every every now cars, usually, when you drive them off the lot, go down. Now during covid, the cars actually went up in value. You you’d buy a car. There was such a shortage that you could drive it off the lot, and then you could even flip it for 510, $1,000 profit, because there was such a rush to buy, to buy vehicles, but, that’s our vision.”

The governor acknowledged critics who have argued that eliminating property taxes is not feasible, but questioned that assertion.

“So, of course. So what do people say? Oh, that can’t be done. You can’t do that. And my question is, is, why can’t it be done?”

DeSantis also cited Broward County as an example in discussions about local government spending and audits.

“Look, we were the first place we went to with these audits was Broward County, Florida. They got 1.9 million people. They’ve had no net population growth over the last five years. Their budgets increased 60%”

WATCH:

Warning: Account balances and purchasing power no longer tell the same story. Know in 2 minutes if your retirement is working for you.