When looking at the impact of potential property tax reduction, Florida House Speaker Daniel "Danny" Perez posed the question: Should very small counties even exist?
This comes as the future of property taxes in the Sunshine State could be up to voters during the 2026 election. These taxes fund local governments to pay for services.
The Florida House has unveiled seven proposed resolutions, ranging from eliminating non-school homestead property taxes to creating a $100,000 non-school homestead tax exemption for residences with property insurance.
ALSO READ: Florida House unveils property tax reduction proposals
Gov. Ron DeSantis has dismissed these proposals. He has made it a top priority to ensure voters in the 2026 elections can vote on slashing property taxes for homeowners.
"Placing more than one property tax measure on the ballot represents an attempt to kill anything on property taxes," DeSantis said on X. "It's a political game, not a serious attempt to get it done for the people."
On "The Florida Roundup," Perez, R-Miami, stated representatives are simply trying to initiate a conversation.
I'm gonna play devil's advocate here: Should some of these counties not exist? Do we have too many counties? Should some of them maybe be combined? I don't know. I have no idea. I'm not saying yes or no, but those are the questions that I'm asking.Florida House Speaker Daniel Perez
"There's no games being played here, but we have to put something on the ballot," Perez said. "We're not going to be able to amend the Constitution and eliminate property taxes through Twitter."
He added that they don't believe putting seven proposals on the ballot is the right move, but that the House is the only one making suggestions at this moment.
"We hear the people, and we want to come through for them," he said.
Perez added that the members are going to look at each one individually and take a vote on them. He explained that in order to put something on the ballot for the 2026 elections, there needs to be a vote on the joint resolution.
He said that although he agrees with the governor on the issue, he's still awaiting a call back from DeSantis to gain more insight on how this reform would happen.
"Look, I've called the governor. He doesn't answer, but I've called to see if he has a better option than I do," he said.
Perez said the Senate hasn't been generating ideas.
"There hasn't been a conversation started by the Senate," he said.
DeSantis contends most property taxes are paid by owners of vacation homes or commercial properties — not people who live in their primary residences.
ALSO READ: Gov. DeSantis dismisses House tax plan as 'a political game'
"So people say, 'Well, where are you going to get the money?' Well, how come nobody asks, 'Why can't [the] government spend less money," the governor questioned.
In the House's proposals, local governments would not be able to reduce law enforcement funding, and school property taxes would be exempt. In general, the debate has been narrowed down to homesteaded property taxes only. In other words, only for residential properties where homeowners live.
"Let's not make it seem like all of a sudden we're for property taxes if it's a commercial building. It's just right now, we don't have an unlimited amount of money. Decisions have to be made. This is where we're starting," Perez said.
When asked about the concern on how to replace revenue for local governments, Perez said a lot of it depends on what's put on the ballot and if it's passed.
"We exempt the school property taxes because if you don't exempt them, we're talking about a little over $20 billion. I would say probably half our counties would shut down. Forget about services. I'm just saying they would cease to exist," Perez said.
ALSO READ: Could property taxes change in Florida? Lawmakers want them to
He said "very, very small counties" rely on their property taxes.
"And look, I'm gonna play devil's advocate here," he said. "Should some of these counties not exist? Do we have too many counties? Should some of them maybe be combined? I don't know. I have no idea. I'm not saying yes or no, but those are the questions that I'm asking."
He said that the House, Senate and the governor's office all agree that there is wasteful spending at the local level. He said there's “wasteful spending” that could be redirected to backfill cuts.
WUSF's Douglas Soule contributed to this report. This story was compiled from interviews conducted by Tom Hudson for "The Florida Roundup."
