Jay Collins doesn’t know when Gov. DeSantis will roll out property tax plan

Gov. Ron DeSantis has taken his time releasing a concrete proposal for eliminating property taxes on homestead properties. And Lt. Gov. Jay Collins suggests further delays are likely.

“I don’t have a hard timeline in front of me. He’ll roll it out when it’s available and when it’s ready. But what I do know is he’s being diligent and dotting the I’s, crossing the T’s, and making sure that all the second-, third-, and fourth-order effects are thought about and taken care of,” the Tampa Republican said on “Jenna Ellis in the Morning.”

Though the Governor is taking his time, his second-in-command suggests that legislators should wait and see what is ultimately rolled out as opposed to moving through a package of tax abatement proposals like those introduced in the House earlier this year.

“It has to be a ballot initiative, but much like that old movie … “The Highlander,” there can only be one. We can only have one that goes on the ballot. Anything more than that is going to confuse the situation.”

House Speaker Daniel Perez last month unveiled eight potential constitutional amendments that, if OK’d in the Legislature in the coming Session, would go directly to voters for possible approval in the 2026 election. DeSantis himself has called them “milquetoast” and has said they are doomed to fail.

The measures include:

— HJR 201 by Rep. Kevin Steele: Eliminates non-school homestead property taxes outright. If approved, homeowners would no longer pay city/county non-school levies on their primary residence.

— HJR 203 by Rep. Monique Miller: Phases out non-school homestead property taxes over 10 years by adding a new $100,000 exemption each year to a homeowner’s non-school tax base. After a decade, the non-school portion on homesteads would be fully exempted.

— HJR 205 by Rep. Juan Porras: Exempts Florida residents over 65 from paying non-school homestead property taxes.

— HJR 207 by Rep. Shane Abbott: Creates a new homestead exemption for non-school taxes equal to 25% of a home’s assessed value. This broad exemption would cut bills for current homeowners and aid first-time buyers entering the market.

— HJR 209 by Rep. Demi Busatta: Establishes a property insurance relief homestead exemption by granting an additional $100,000 non-school exemption to homestead owners who maintain property insurance, linking relief to insured, more resilient homes.

— HJR 211 by Rep. Toby Overdorf: Eliminates the cap on “portability” of Save Our Homes (SOH) benefits, allowing homeowners to transfer their accumulated SOH differential to a new primary residence, even when the replacement home is of lesser value, thereby preserving long-built tax savings.

— HJR 213 by Rep. Griff Griffitts: Slows the growth in the assessed value of non-school homestead property taxes to 3% over three years for homestead property (currently it’s 3% per year) and 15% over three years for non-homestead property (currently at 10% per year).

— HB 215 by Rep. Jon Albert: Makes statutory changes, including requiring a two-thirds vote to increase millage rates and allowing newly married couples to merge their accumulated SOH benefits when establishing a shared household.

During Tuesday’s interview, Collins said he wanted to avoid a “squabble” with the House. But given their plans are already hatched, it’s likely that legislative sponsors will stand by their work, and that conflict is likely.

House Speaker Daniel Perez said weeks ago that DeSantis “has not produced a plan on property taxes.”

“It’s unclear what he wants to do. I’ve personally reached out to share with him the House’s proposals and he has, so far, not wanted to engage in a conversation,” Perez said in a statement to Florida Politics.

The House is in the midst of committee weeks now, and time is running short between now and the beginning of the Legislative Session in January.

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Jesse Scheckner of Florida Politics contributed to this report.