After clamoring for property tax measure, DeSantis now takes back seat

• Gov. Ron DeSantis will not actively campaign for a property tax-cutting amendment he previously championed.
• This is a shift from 2024, when DeSantis used millions in public funds to fight abortion and marijuana amendments.
• A new law now prohibits spending public money to advocate for or against constitutional amendments.
• Opponents of the tax cut warn it could lead to a loss of billions in revenue for cities and counties.

After directing tens of millions of dollars in taxpayer money into fighting abortion and marijuana ballot measures two years ago, Gov. Ron DeSantis says he will not actively campaign for the property tax cutting proposal going before voters in November.

DeSantis clamored for the amendment for a year. But what Florida lawmakers set for the ballot isn’t exactly his plan.

So the term-limited governor said he intends to mostly sit this out.

“If someone asked me to do something, I'm not saying I wouldn't, but in terms of leading the effort, in terms of me saying, ‘Here we go, we're going to do this, we're going to do all that.’ You know, I'm not going to do it,” DeSantis said after signing the state budget June 29 in Tampa.

He said "what the Legislature did wasn't my proposal.”

The secondary role is a dramatic departure for DeSantis who in 2024 vigorously opposed abortion rights and recreational marijuana amendments, spending what analysis shows was at least $35 million in public money against them.

But it might also be the governor facing a new political reality.

After DeSantis’ actions in 2024, the Legislature last year approved a law, signed by the governor, that prohibits the spending of public dollars on advertising to advocate for approval or defeat of a constitutional amendment. Local governments were already barred from such spending.

Two years ago, the administration’s diversion of $10 million from a Medicaid settlement to political committees fighting the marijuana measure embroiled his office in the Hope Florida grand jury investigation and further soured his relationship with the state House, which had conducted its own probe.

DeSantis-run agencies had aired state-financed public service announcements against the abortion and marijuana amendments. The governor and First Lady Casey DeSantis also were central players, making daily appearances trashing the amendments in the weeks leading to the November 2024 election.

2024 amendments fell just short

Both measures fell just short of the needed 60% approval. Now, DeSantis’ backing away from the Amendment 3 effort comes as opposition is just beginning to gather.

'Vote No on 3' is chaired by Bryan Desloge, a Republican and former Leon County commissioner and past president of the Florida Association of Counties and the National Association of Counties.

'3 Degrees Florida' also has been formed to raise awareness of what services could be cut if the amendment is approved. Cities and counties would lose $5 billion in tax revenue next year and almost $12 billion by 2031, according to state economists.

A lawsuit in Leon County by a nonprofit group and two former South Florida mayors also seeks to strip the measure from the ballot as misleading to voters.

Police and fire officials have spoken out against the measure as posing a risk to public safety, while local government leaders across the state have said taxes would have to be raised or new fees attached to other public services like park entrance and garbage pickup if property taxes dwindle.

Property tax collections have been climbing as assessed values have grown in Florida.

DeSantis not leading, but says cut still good for taxpayers

And while suddenly distancing himself from the measure, DeSantis said he still thinks it’s good for taxpayers. “I'm going to vote for it. I think it's positive in terms of getting affordability and relief,” he said in Tampa.

At another appearance June 30 in The Villages, DeSantis continued talking about the property tax measure, dismissing opponents’ claims. “They’re going to tell you there’s no money for infrastructure, you’re not going to have any money for police, you’re not going to have any money for any of these things,” DeSantis said.

The abortion and marijuana amendments, which were heavily financed, show that the 60% voter approval standard for constitutional amendments is tough to reach.

This year’s Amendment 3 would increase the homestead exemption from the current $50,000 to $150,000 in 2027 and then to $250,000 in 2028. Lawmakers modified the measure before placing it on the ballot, exempting school taxes from the higher homestead exemption.

DeSantis’ plan would’ve erased school taxes, as well.

Framework of amendment mostly what DeSantis wanted

But the framework of the ballot initiative contains most of what DeSantis called for over the past year.

As part of his earlier sales pitch, DeSantis made appearances and dispatched Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia to gather budget data from select cities and counties, ridiculing items he said showed governments spending beyond what they should, based on inflation and population growth.

DeSantis’ reluctance now to campaign for what he wanted didn’t sit well with some lawmakers. The governor pushed lawmakers into a special session in June to approve the ballot measure.

Some critics question whether DeSantis feared denting his political future, especially if the measure fails.

“Sad that instead of fighting for property tax relief like he promised, the Governor has chosen to abandon Floridians once again to save his campaign funds for a failed 2028 presidential run,” Rep. Juan Porras, R-Miami, posted on X.

John Kennedy is a reporter in the USA TODAY Network’s Florida Capital Bureau. He can be reached at [email protected], or on X at @JKennedyReport.