Governor Ron DeSantis is selling his marquee property tax proposal with a bold promise: expand Florida’s homestead exemption to $500,000 and eliminate property taxes for 92% of homeowners in the state. But analysts at investment bank UBS are pumping the brakes, and they’re using Florida’s own government data to do it.
In a research note published Wednesday, UBS flagged a notable discrepancy between the numbers DeSantis cited and those from the Florida Office of Economic and Demographic Research, the state’s own fiscal analysis arm. According to the governor, lifting the homestead exemption to $250,000 would wipe out property taxes for roughly 60% of Florida homeowners. But the state’s own data tells a more modest story: only about 28% of homesteaded properties in Florida are valued at $250,000 or less. At the $500,000 threshold—again, where DeSantis promised 92% coverage—Florida’s own data pegs the share at just 75% to 80%.
