Ron DeSantis Floats Taxing ‘Rich Guys From Brazil’ To Fund Florida’s Property Tax Cuts

For Florida homeowners anxious for property tax relief, the message from Gov. Ron DeSantis is clear: Just wait.

"I think the question is timing," he said on Hang Out With Sean Hannity. "How quickly can you get to where your personal residence is excluded from your property?"

It remains the $50 billion question. After the regular legislative session ended without passing any of the slew of proposals to slash or eliminate homestead taxes, legislators are heading into a special session to hammer out the budget and—potentially—property taxes.

In a wide-ranging conversation at Palm Beach Atlantic University on Wednesday, DeSantis suggested he favors a gradual, phased approach.

"What we want to do is the homesteaded property, we would likely start at the bottom and then phase it in where you’re raising the exclusion until you get to elimination," he said.

DeSantis added that he is open to providing state grants to help localities navigate the transition, though he cautioned that local governments will have to reduce spending to offset the lost revenue. Even so, with DeSantis’ term ending in January 2027, the responsibility for sustaining those grants would ultimately fall to a future governor.

Despite his clear support for property tax elimination, the governor has been largely silent on what he would like to put before voters in November. His conversations this week may offer the most clarity into the governor's preferred approach to property tax relief to date.

The 'gusher of revenue' vs. the squeeze

In both interviews, DeSantis doubled down on his commitment by highlighting Florida's fiscal shift.

In 2019, property tax revenue collected by Florida localities sat at roughly $32 billion, according to DeSantis. Today, that figure has ballooned to $60 billion. 

Data from the U.S. Census Bureau puts the 2019 figure closer to $31 billion, and a white paper from the Florida Chamber of Commerce puts the most recent number closer to $55 billion—but the difference is roughly the same.

He described this windfall as a “gusher of revenue,” arguing that even when accounting for inflation and the service demands of a growing population, the math doesn't add up.

Part of the problem, he said, is overspending. Instead of returning the surplus to taxpayers, the governor suggested that municipalities have been using the funds to expand government bureaucracy.

For homeowners, that "gusher" has hit like a ton of bricks.

Last summer, one Florida family told Realtor.com® that the property tax bill on their longtime primary residence jumped from $15,000 to over $91,000 after a remodel triggered a loss of homestead protections and a reassessment at current market rates.

It's stories like these, DeSantis told Hannity, that make reform so important.

"Here’s the thing, people say, 'Why are you doing property tax?'" he said. "I’m doing it because people are getting pinched by it."

Who will foot the bill? DeSantis says, 'Some rich guy from Brazil'

In both interviews, DeSantis suggested the state still holds plenty of taxable property to maintain services without relying on homesteads. 

That’s precisely why a phased approach is central to his vision. By gradually weaning localities off homestead revenue—which reached $18.5 billion last year—nonhomestead properties are given the time needed to appreciate and bridge the fiscal gap.

"Some rich guy from Brazil buys a mansion in Miami, they can still be taxed," DeSantis told Hannity. "So, what'll happen is we'll take the homestead revenue [out], and the rest of the revenue will continue to grow like it has. It's doable."

Again, that may be a tough act to pull off. DeSantis is banking on the type of once-in-a-generation appreciation that swept the state during the pandemic and shortly after. Since then, the market has sharply pulled back; and today, Florida has the most risk of falling home prices. 

But the luxury market remains a bright spot in the state—with the number of million-dollar home sales in South Florida reaching an all time high in February 2026, according to research from Realtor.com.

Beyond luxury real estate, DeSantis points to Florida’s 143 million annual visitors as the ultimate economic engine. By leveraging tourism-driven sales tax and maintaining taxes on nonhomesteaded properties, he believes the state can bridge the gap left by a primary resident tax phaseout.

"We have 142 million visitors," DeSantis noted. "Are you trying to tell me that they can't [offset this]?"

Florida is also the epicenter of the domestic wealth migration. Over the five-year period from 2019 to 2023, the state gained a staggering $137 billion from domestic migration, according to a Miami Association of Realtors® analysis of the latest IRS data. In 2023 alone, Florida had an inflow of $20.65 billion, and it continues to attract more high-income earners than any other state.

Florida requires 60% supermajority for new laws

DeSantis has transformed property tax reform into a marquee issue, one he hopes will drive a massive outpouring of voters to the polls this November. But even with the governor's full-throated support, the movement faces a daunting reality check at the ballot box.

Florida law requires a 60% supermajority for any constitutional amendment to pass. Recent polling shows that among likely voters, 56% are for gradually eliminating taxes on homesteaded property over 10 years, not counting taxes for schools and emergency services.

Among homeowners, the group with the most to gain, support edges slightly closer to the finish line at 58%. While these numbers show a clear majority in favor of the phaseout, they still fall short of the 60% threshold needed to become law.