While he praised the Florida GOP for setting the $5 billion target on cutting taxes, the governor expressed concern Monday that the proposal would provide the most relief “for foreigners, visitors, [and] part-time residents.” Although he still left the door open to making cuts to the sales tax, DeSantis urged lawmakers to prioritize property tax relief, arguing that such a move would put Florida “first.”

“Of all the taxes impacting Floridians, property taxes are the most significant,” DeSantis said. “I can tell you that when people talk to me about taxes, 99% talk about property taxes,” he continued, adding that many residents have bought homes for $250,000 or less only to find them now valued at over a million dollars.

Home prices in Florida have experienced drastic hikes in recent years, quadrupling in Miami since 2012 and tripling in Orlando and Tampa. 

“I’m fine with doing sales tax reductions,” the governor said. “Heck, I’ve proposed sales tax reductions and enacted many sales tax reductions since I’ve been governor … [But] how are you cutting taxes? Are you going to focus on what gets you the most bang for the buck to help Florida residents? That is where I think the focus needs to be. So you got to do property relief. If you want to do sales on top of that, I’m all for that. But this property stuff needs to be addressed.”

“I very much appreciate those folks in the House that set the $5 billion target,” DeSantis continued. “If that is something they’re willing to discuss … We’ll come with a proposal to focus that $5 billion on reducing property taxes.”

The governor said that if lawmakers came together on cutting $5 billion in property taxes, Floridians could see roughly $1,000 in savings. 

“We would end up with about $1,000 in property tax cut for every homesteaded Floridian,” he said. “This is just the opening salvo … We want to have a constitutional amendment on property taxes.”

This isn’t the first time DeSantis has pitched gutting property taxes. During his State of the State address earlier this month, the governor similarly expressed support for pursuing a constitutional amendment enacting property tax relief. 

“You buy a home, pay off a mortgage — and yet you still have to write a check to the government every year just to live on your own property?” the governor questioned. “Is the property yours, or are you just renting from the government?”

DESANTIS IMPLORES LOCAL GOVERNMENTS TO SEEK AUDITS FROM STATE DOGE TASK FORCE

The Florida governor also recently urged local governments to agree to voluntary audits by the state’s Department of Government Efficiency task force to scrutinize property tax practices. 

“We really hope to be able to deliver some serious, serious audits working with the Florida legislature of what’s going on in these local governments,” DeSantis said.