I hesitate to write about anything that is going to encourage people to move to the Southeast. As we like to say here in Atlanta, "we full." But it's not just that. Yankees and West Coasters love to move to our little slice of the country because we have a cheaper cost of living and bring their liberal big government and high-tax policies with them, and it kind of ruins things for the rest of us.
Well, I'm going to make an exception here because I like what's happening in Florida, and I hope my home state of Georgia — and the rest of the country — follows suit. The state wants to abolish property taxes, and Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) is behind the idea 100%.
During a press conference on Monday, DeSantis first announced that he's pushing for an agency similar to the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to audit the Sunshine State's government spending. The agency would only operate for a single year.
"I'm pleased to announce that we are launching a comprehensive initiative to continue to streamline our government, and to continue to eliminate unnecessary bureaucracy, and to continue to ensure tax dollars are used in the most efficient way possible," he said, adding, "Our state DOGE task force will use AI to amplify our efficiency efforts, spearhead audits at our state universities and tee up the elimination of more than 70 state boards and commissions."
DeSantis said that since he took office in 2019, Florida has already reduced the state’s historical debt by 41% and kept Florida’s state employee number per capita the lowest in the United States, but he argued that the state needs to do more to save taxpayer dollars.
The biggest news from the press conference, however, is that the DOGE-like agency will help find ways to abolish the property tax in Florida. He argued that it isn't fair for homeowners to pay inflated property taxes to fund reckless government spending habits.
"Okay, you've paid off the mortgage, you bought the land, you've been taxed many times — it's like is it your property or not? Just for being on your property, you've got to write a check to the government every year. So, you're basically paying rent to the government to live on your own property. And our homestead exemption isn't strong enough to help these folks because the property gets assessed so high," he said, adding, "A lot of people can't afford that... It's something that's been pinching a lot of homeowners, particularly seniors on a fixed income... The reality is you don't know how much your home is worth until someone offers you money and is willing to pull the trigger on a sale. That's how the market works."
It's not the first time DeSantis has hit on this topic. He mentioned it earlier this month on X and called taxing land or property "oppressive":
Last week, Florida State Sen. Jonathan Martin, (R-Fort Myers), filed a bill that would authorize the state's legislature’s Office of Economic and Demographic Research to "conduct a study to establish a framework to eliminate property taxes… and to replace property tax revenues through budget reductions, sales-based consumption taxes, and locally determined consumption taxes."
Florida currently doesn't make its residents pay income tax, and if DeSantis and his team are successful, it could become the first state in the nation to have no property tax.