Florida Republican lawmakers introduced eight new bills on Thursday that aim at cutting property taxes in the state, responding to Governor Ron DeSantis’s call for urgent action to ease the growing financial burden on homeowners.

Most of the bills include a homestead exemption, and seven out of eight are expected to appear on the 2026 general election ballot. One of the bills would completely exempt senior homeowners from paying non-school homestead property taxes, targeting the group that has been said to suffer the most from recent hikes in property tax bills.

“What has been lost in this debate has been the fact that the ultimate decision on what should happen with property taxes belongs not with elected officials but with the people of Florida,” House Speaker Daniel Perez said in a memo announcing the plans. “If we have faith in the voters to elect us, we should not be afraid to let them be a part of the conversation about the taxes they pay.”

Newsweek reached out to Perez and the Florida Senate for comment via email on Friday morning.

What Are Florida Lawmakers’ Proposals?

The seven proposed resolutions expected to appear on the ballot before voters are:

• HJR 201, which would eliminate non-school homestead property taxes;
• HJR 203, which would phase out non-school homestead property taxes over the next ten years;
• HJR 205, which would exempt homeowners aged 65+ from paying non-school homestead property taxes;
• HJR 207, which would create a non-school property tax homestead exemption equal to 25 percent of the assessed value of the house;
• HJR 209, which would create a $100,000 non-school homestead tax exemption for residences with property insurance;
• HJR 211, which would eliminate the cap on portability, a measure that allows homeowners to transfer any tax savings accumulated from their previous place to a new one;
• HJR 213, which would limit how much the assessed non-school property tax can increase for a home to 3 percent every three years from 3 percent annually for homestead property, and 15 percent over three years for non-homestead property instead of 10 percent per year.

The eighth proposal, which would not appear before voters, is HB 215. It requires a two-thirds vote to raise local millage rates and allow newly married couples to combine their Save Our Homes benefits.

All proposed cuts to property taxes would exclude taxes that fund K-12 schools—likely preventing criticisms that the measures would bring the public education system to its knees. According to the Florida Education Association, property taxes make up 46 percent of school funding in the state.

The proposed resolutions would also ban local governments from cutting funding to law enforcement.

The Long Road to Property Tax Reform

The issue of reforming property taxes, which have risen significantly over the past five years due to skyrocketing home values during the pandemic homebuying frenzy, has taken center stage in Tallahassee. 

DeSantis has repeatedly spoken in support of abolishing state property taxes entirely, an option that is still being considered by lawmakers—though a recent survey showed that a majority of Floridians do not back such drastic action.

What has become clear is that Florida lawmakers would not present one easy fix to this problem. In his memo released on Thursday, Perez said: “It is our position that the House does not need to limit itself in presenting one single plan, but instead allow the people of Florida the ability to choose some, all, or none of the proposals on the 2026 ballot.”

Some experts and advocates are worried about the impact that eliminating property taxes—or even significantly reducing them—could have on local governments and funding for public services. The latest series of bills seems to take these concerns into account, while pushing further away the possibility of a complete abolition of property taxes in the state. 

The 2026 legislative session in Florida will start on January 12, when the Senate will weigh in on the House proposals and its own. 

For each proposal to appear on the ballot, a 60 percent majority would be needed in both the Florida House and the Senate. Then it would need to be backed by 60 percent of voters in the state to become law.