Ron DeSantis is seeking to complete his project of remaking Florida into a conservative paradise with perhaps his riskiest wager yet: a campaign to largely wipe out property taxes.

In his nearly seven years in office, the governor has ushered in a cultural revolution for schools, embraced abortion restrictions and thrown state resources behind President Donald Trump’s deportation drives, among other moves. Now, his tax-slashing effort is targeting levies that help pay for everything from education to police. 

It’s a move that would cement DeSantis’ status as a GOP standard-bearer and bolster his record if he were to pursue national office again after his second and final term ends. Yet it also raises questions about how Florida’s government would pay for services residents rely on, particularly in a state with no income tax. In Miami-Dade County, for instance, property taxes account for more than a third of the operating budget. 

To help address the challenge, DeSantis is taking another page from Trump politics — this time with his own version of the federal Department of Government Efficiency.

He and Florida Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia are scrutinizing municipal finances and have started a “local government accountability tour” to identify potential waste. They have threatened local officials — many in majority Democratic districts — with fines, subpoenas, withholding of state funding and criminal investigations if they don’t go along with the probes. 

Both have linked the DOGE effort to the push to eliminate or drastically cut property taxes, noting that the exact proposal is still a work in progress. They’ve made it clear that it’s tied to a distrust of local governments, accusing some of wasteful spending after a pandemic-era surge in real estate values bolstered their tax collections.

“It’s a gusher of revenue that’s going into the coffers,” DeSantis said at a press conference on Tuesday. “That’s the purpose of these audits and overviews — to be able to show taxpayers” that spending cuts can be done.

No other state has fully abandoned property taxes. In Florida, such a move would take a constitutional amendment passed by 60% of voters. DeSantis and the GOP have pledged to get it on the ballot in 2026, just before the governor’s term runs out.

Florida’s property taxes are levied by local municipalities and school boards, for which they are often the single largest revenue source. Local governments are also responsible for assessing real estate values and setting millage rates that determine levies. A 1995 law from the state legislature limits the annual increase in the assessed value of a primary residence to no more than 3%.

While DeSantis has suggested an all-out elimination, he’s also floated an approach of killing the tax for primary residences, known as homesteaded properties. He’s equated the taxes to homeowners paying rent to the government. 

Aubrey Jewett, a political scientist at the University of Central Florida, said that DeSantis is looking for another policy win to “add another feather in his cap” for Republican voters. The governor, who was an early candidate in the 2024 presidential election, would be a potential contender in 2028. 

“He’s setting himself up for one more big thing he can claim credit for — a big tax cut that would be really impressive to Republican voters the next time he tries to regain his footing on the national political stage,” Jewett said.

DeSantis and Ingoglia didn’t return requests for comment.

‘FAFO’ takes hold

Supporters see the property-tax rollback as a way to give homeowners relief after the jump in real estate values, which have combined with higher mortgage rates and insurance costs to strain housing affordability. 

Local government coffers have benefited from the real estate boom. Miami-Dade’s property tax revenue has jumped almost 50% since the fiscal year ended in 2022, according to the county’s latest operating budget.

DeSantis and Ingoglia have accused local leaders of “egregious spending” of the windfalls. 

“Property tax cuts are coming. Your budgets are going to get smaller. Prepare now,” Ingoglia warned local officials last week during an interview with a local TV station in Palm Beach County, threatening to withhold state funding for places that they determine aren’t “good stewards of taxpayer money.”

A former state lawmaker and a DeSantis loyalist, Ingoglia was named CFO in July when the post became vacant after his predecessor won a special election to Congress. He’s described himself as a “conservative pit bull” and uses the handle @GovGoneWild on X, the social-media platform owned by original DOGE leader Elon Musk. 

Ingoglia, who is gearing up for a formal election campaign next year, unofficially renamed the auditing push “FAFO.” The acronym stands for Florida Agency for Fiscal Oversight — but it also has another, more vulgar meaning online. The Florida GOP is now selling “FAFO” merch, including t-shirts, hats and beer koozies.

DeSantis has said that his DOGE review will spare schools and sheriff’s departments, which generally account for the majority of expenditures funded by property taxes. That’s likely to leave little fat to trim to produce meaningful savings for taxpayers.

Local leaders have been asked to produce information on contracts, compensation and spending on issues such as climate-change mitigation and diversity efforts, according to requests sent to multiple county officials and reviewed by Bloomberg. The requests also target grants, funding for nongovernment organizations and homeless services for review.

Broward County, home to Fort Lauderdale and one of Florida’s few remaining Democratic strongholds, was DOGE’s first target. County Mayor Beam Furr said spending priorities can be subjective and took issue with zeroing in on climate change efforts, which DeSantis derided at a press conference as a “pet cause.”

“For us, if you’re in South Florida and you’re not concerned with climate change, you’re irresponsible,” Furr said. “We should be able to explain why something is important to us.”

DeSantis highlighted one Broward County expense — an $800,000 float at the Rose Bowl parade in California — as an example of the frivolous spending. But Beam pointed out that the float was funded by tourism bed taxes, which are earmarked for advertising the county as a tourist destination. Such expenses aren’t a part of the general fund, which is the main target of DOGE audits.

Some local leaders have said DOGE’s requests feel redundant, with tight deadlines. Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, a Democrat, said most information being sought can be found in regular external audits that are public record. 

“There is no need for duplication, nor for politically driven investigations that could divert staff time away from critical services,” she said. 

Levine Cava earlier this month sought an extension on the state’s initial deadline to respond to DOGE, but her request was denied by Ingoglia.

On Wednesday, Ingoglia announced he’d filed investigative subpoenas related to diversity, equity and inclusion grants in Orange County, a Democratic area where Orlando is located. He accused county employees of hiding information from roughly $600,000 in grants over three years.

“Orange County fooled around, and they’re about to find out,” he said.

Managing expectations

The state’s GOP leaders have also at times taken more moderate tones to the DOGE effort. George Kruse, the Republican chair of the Manatee County Board of County Commissioners, welcomes the audit, but points out that it will only look at about 20% of the budget, including services like ambulances, libraries and “keeping the street lights on,” he said.

“If we can cut someone’s bill by $100, we’ll do it, and that’s why I think this is a worthwhile endeavor,” he said, noting that recent votes to increase taxes for conservation and school funding passed with overwhelming support from voters. “I just want people to manage their expectations.”

Byron Donalds, a southwest Florida Republican congressman, is the frontrunner to succeed DeSantis in 2026. In an interview at a Florida Republican Party fundraiser, while his counterparts were on stage preaching to the GOP faithful, he said he’s opposed to banning property tax. Instead, he favors imposing further limits on millage rates.

“The problem is going to be, how do you make up the revenue for local governments?” he said. “So with this, the devil is in the details.”

Donalds has the backing of Trump — but not of DeSantis.