Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) promised to veto tax relief legislation spearheaded by Florida Republican House Speaker Daniel Perez as a battle of wills between the two men plays out in the public eye yet again.
The pair’s latest dispute centers on deep disagreements over whether to focus on slashing property taxes or sales taxes. Although DeSantis has expressed support for cutting the sales tax, he favors cutting $5 billion in property taxes first, promising Floridians could see roughly $1,000 in savings. Perez wants to prioritize lowering the state’s sales tax from 6% to 5.25%, amounting to roughly $1.6 billion in total tax cuts, a move DeSantis believes 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.
Perez has plowed ahead with the sales tax approach. However, after he led the legislature over the weekend in crafting an agreement making “the largest tax cut in the history of Florida,” DeSantis poured cold water on the plan.
During a Wednesday roundtable in Tampa, the governor slammed the agreement as a “Florida last tax package,” promising voters it would be “dead on arrival.”
“We are not going to kneecap our ability to provide you property tax relief, just so we can give a little bit of a benefit to Canadian tourists. That is not going to happen, so you can take that to the bank,” he said.
Perez fought back in a statement issued the same day.
“I’m concerned about how confused the governor seems to be,” he said. “For a guy worried about Canadians and Brazilians, the Governor has pushed for a large number of sales tax, gas tax and toll holidays over the years – all of which were enjoyed by tourists. Also, more property taxpayers (30%) are out-of-state than sales taxpayers (14%).”
“He is threatening to veto the largest state tax cut in history, and his excuse is that it limits our ability to cut local property taxes? That’s bizarre,” Perez continued. “We can cut the sales tax by the largest amount in the history of our country and place a ballot initiative on property taxes on the 2026 ballot. This isn’t about whether we can do both – it’s about whether we will.”
Under a framework DeSantis touted detailing his property tax plan on March 31, Florida would use state funds to pay for property taxes going to K-12 schools. Homeowners would get a rebate from the savings by the end of this year — faster than the 2027 rebate they would see if voters approved a 2026 ballot measure to cut property taxes.
Perez also announced late last month a Select Committee on Property Taxes, consisting of 37 members who would scrutinize property tax proposals with an eye toward crafting a constitutional amendment that Floridians could vote on in November 2026.
As he delivered remarks detailing the committee, Perez accused DeSantis of failing to give sufficient details about his property tax plan and expressed some skepticism about how slashing those taxes could play out.
“Several months ago, Gov. DeSantis introduced the exciting and provocative idea of abolishing property taxes in Florida. Naturally, many of us had the same questions. 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.”
On Wednesday, DeSantis rebuffed the idea that Perez is fighting to take action on property taxes, slamming the speaker for waiting until the last day of the legislative session to launch the Select Committee on Property Taxes and calling the move a “political ploy” designed to “smother” real tax relief.
“They don’t want to do property tax relief. And how do you know that? Well, they rejected my calls to do it during the regular session,” he said during the Tampa roundtable. “Then the House leadership convened, on the last day of session, a hearing on a task force for property tax with 37 members, including some of the most liberal Democrats who do not want to give you property tax relief in the entire state of Florida.”
“You don’t convene a 37-person committee if you’re trying to get something done. You convene a 37-person committee if you’re trying to smother it in the crib,” the governor added. “When I want something done, I do it. I don’t put a committee of 37 people together where they’re not going to be able to agree on anything.”
Lawmakers had already extended the legislative session in order to hammer out a budget and tax framework when Perez announced the preliminary sales tax agreement condemned by DeSantis on Friday. Now, legislators are set to return to Tallahassee on May 12 to work out details about what proposals to send to the governor.
“I look forward to working with the Senate and relevant House members to have a good Florida-first tax package,” DeSantis said after warning that “none” of the state senators support Perez’s sales tax package and that “a lot of the House members don’t support it either.”
His view was reinforced on Wednesday by Republican State Sens. Jay Collins and Blaise Ingoglia, with the latter saying, “Almost everyone we talk to in the legislature would rather have property-tax relief than sales-tax relief.”
Perez and DeSantis have feuded ever since the speaker took office last year. The quarrels have involved everything from Perez calling the governor’s efforts to target illegal immigration “premature” to supporting investigations into first lady Casey DeSantis’s charity, Hope Florida.
DESANTIS DEFENDS WIFE AGAINST CLAIMS HOPE FLORIDA ILLEGALLY FUNDED POLITICAL CAUSES
DeSantis suggested this week 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.”