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Gov. DeSantis discusses property tax at roundtable in Jacksonville

Governor speaks at Gators BBQ

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks in Lake Buena Vista on Thursday, Feb. 22, 2024. (WKMGNewstar, Copyright 2024 by WKMG ClickOrlando - All rights reserved.)

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis held a roundtable Friday morning at a barbecue restaurant in Jacksonville.

It was another roundtable focused on discussing property tax relief, much like the other such event held by DeSantis in Tampa on Wednesday.

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Speaking at Gators BBQ, the governor emphasized the need for reform in light of rising real estate values and the financial burden on homeowners, calling for a philosophical and practical debate on the issue.

“You had a massive spike in real estate values (over the last five years) which, you know, on the one hand, you have your home — that’s your number-one asset for many people — and if you bought it for $250,000 10 years ago, then all of a sudden over a five-year period it triples in value. (...) With the increase in values as people are buying homes in particular, you have higher tax basis to pay property taxes and sometimes you have — a homestead is great, but the homestead is limited in terms of how much benefit you get — and so your property goes up three times. You’re paying more,” DeSantis said. “(...) How does it work where you’re having to pay ten grand a year just in property taxes? And the thing about it is, this is supposed to be your private property, but yeah, you could own your home for 50 years and you still got to pay the government just to live on your property.”

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Watch the news conference again in the video player below or by clicking here.


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