A monthslong feud between Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) and Republican Florida House Speaker Daniel Perez over whether to cut property or sales taxes ended in a stalemate after the state legislature passed a budget containing neither of the provisions.
While DeSantis wanted Perez to prioritize property tax relief by handing out $1,000 property tax rebates to homeowners, Perez wanted to reduce the sales tax from 6% to 5.25%. The intraparty disagreement swiftly spiraled into personal attacks, with the speaker claiming the governor was withholding “actual and meaningful tax relief” from voters.
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When Florida lawmakers passed the $115 billion state budget on Monday evening, 45 days later than the legislative session was supposed to end due in part to the DeSantis-Perez squabble, it became clear that neither one of the politicians had attained his hopes of a property tax cut or an overall sales tax cut.
However, the main appropriations bill passed this week included moves to create a $750 million rainy day reserve fund and fewer sweeping tax cuts. The bill is roughly $3.5 billion smaller than the current fiscal year’s budget and $500 million less than DeSantis initially proposed in early February. The slimmed appropriations bill marks the Republican-dominated legislature’s move to roll back pandemic-era spending levels, which surged nationwide during COVID-19.
The budget for 2025-26 most prominently features the $904 million elimination of a commercial lease tax, which is the fee businesses pay on rent. The $1.3 billion tax relief bill also abolishes sales tax on hurricane supplies. It adds tax exemptions for items such as sunscreen, insect repellent, tickets to NASCAR championship races, fire extinguishers, smoke detectors, life jackets, bicycle helmets, and admission to state parks.
The budget, set to take effect July 1, additionally adds a back-to-school tax exemption on supplies every August. The provision added requirements for a tax “holiday” every August on back-to-school items, such as clothes, school supplies, and personal computers. If signed into law, the provision would allow the holiday to recur yearly automatically, a departure from previous years, when the tax relief necessitated annual approval.
Legislative leaders notably backed a provision in the budget bill that would allow Florida to set aside $750 million in each of the next two fiscal years by asking voters in 2025 to increase the ceiling of the state’s reserve fund.
“If there is a recession, that (future) legislature will thank this body for the hard decisions that we made today to save money that could have very easily been spent on a bunch of pork,” Perez said.
The budget heads to DeSantis for final approval. The governor holds the authority to veto individual items before signing the budget into law.
DeSantis, currently on a trade mission in France, has the authority to wrangle lawmakers back to Tallahassee for a special session focused on passing his pet property tax legislation.
While he said cutting the sales tax was a worthy effort, DeSantis said for months he wanted Perez to prioritize property tax relief. The speaker wanted to reduce the sales tax from 6% to 5.25%, arguing that his proposal would save shoppers $5 billion annually.
However, a proposal backed by the governor sought to cut $5 billion in property taxes, with Floridian homeowners each seeing $1,000 in savings. The DeSantis plan sought to provide preliminary property tax relief ahead of plans to pursue a constitutional amendment seeking to abolish property taxes altogether, which would be placed on the state’s 2026 ballot.
DeSantis argued the sales tax cuts pitched by Perez would primarily benefit tourists, or “foreigners, visitors, [and] part-time residents,” as nearly 20% of Florida’s sales tax revenue comes from out-of-state visitors.
The disagreement sparked another bitter feud between the two Florida politicians, who have publicly clashed in the past over strategy on a host of issues, including tackling illegal immigration.
Perez accused DeSantis of failing to give sufficient details about his property tax plan and expressed skepticism about how slashing those taxes could play out.
“How would elimination of property taxes work? If property taxes go away, how would local governments pay for the services?” Perez questioned.
“Unfortunately, as the weeks have gone by, the governor has yet to come forward with any specific answers to those questions,” he continued. “If the governor comes forward with a proposal, we will hear it. … This process is not about ego or pride of authorship or credit. This is about bringing the very best proposals before the people of Florida so that they have an opportunity to decide their own fate.”
Last month, DeSantis suggested that Perez’s opposition to his property tax plan and other policy items stemmed from deep personal animus.
“Part of it was they didn’t want me to get a quote ‘win,’” he said. “That’s how these people think. They’re not trying to do your business. They’re pursuing their own personal agenda. They have vendettas.”
Perez reiterated Monday that he wouldn’t “shy away” from talks that may conflict with the state Senate or DeSantis.
“Our goal was to be a co-equal branch of government, have an opinion that matters, an opinion of value,” Perez told reporters. “I do believe now more than ever that the House’s opinion matters.”