After months of demands from the Florida governor’s office to slice property taxes, a Belleview Republican announced Tuesday his three-part plan to phase them out.
Rep. Ryan Chamberlin, from Marion County, serving his second term, revealed his “Freedom 1,2,3” proposal to reporters during a Zoom press conference. The move came months after Gov. Ron DeSantis first pressured state lawmakers to eliminate the tax.
The demand set the stage for a tax-cut feud between DeSantis and House Speaker Daniel Perez during the 2025 legislative session; Perez wanted to focus instead on slashing the state sales tax.
“If we do this, no one’s gonna be able to touch us. And we will be the first state in the country to take a dramatic step toward eliminating the most hated tax in America,” Chamberlin, 51, said Tuesday, noting that property taxes statewide have risen by more than 45% since 2019.
Chamberlin’s first point involves legislation to roll property tax rates back to where they were in 2022. He acknowledged that much of his proposal could be subject to change pending further debate but, for now, he wants to eliminate roughly $34 billion of the $43 billion levied through county school and non-school property taxes.
This would mirror 2007’s property tax rollback under then-Speaker Marco Rubio, which forced rates down to reflect the 2006-2007 fiscal year’s levels before the voters approved a constitutional amendment expanding homestead exemptions and capping assessment increases on non-homesteaded properties. It came in direct response to the then-looming 2008 housing crisis, which saw a major market downturn ahead of a crashing stock market.
‘Political risk’
Once the new rollback removes a slew of property tax revenue, Chamberlin acknowledged, something will have to be done to replace the lost money — traditionally used to fund firefighters, public schools, and other crucial services statewide. This is where “2 and 3” of “Freedom 1,2,3” come in, said Chamberlin, a former consultant and entrepreneur.
He’s proposing a 5% transaction fee on real estate sales, which he says could generate roughly $12 billion a year; a 5% transaction fee on rideshares, hotels, and amusement parks as a “travelers’ fee” to create $3.8 billion in lost revenue; and a 3-cent sales tax going specifically to schools to spawn at least $20 billion to replace the “required local effort” of school property taxes. That money would be collected against purchases in a county and redistributed depending on how many students are in each school.
Chamberlin said he knows this won’t be received well by everyone. Republicans have traditionally opposed raising taxes and, although DeSantis has been chief among Floridian politicos calling for a solution to property tax rates, he also vowed not to sign any tax increases — even if it’s to supplement lost income. DeSantis instead offered a more vague interim proposal involving a $1,000 rebate to homeowners.
“There is a political risk for me or anyone else who rolls out an actual plan, because immediately, there’s going to be those who organize opposition,” Chamberlin said, noting that although many people may try to “poke holes” in his plan, he welcomes the discussion. “It’s easy to talk about doing something about property taxes without ever getting specific about doing anything about it. But I’m convinced that we must have a starting point.”
The loud debate yet lack of action surrounding property taxes dominated the 2025 session. DeSantis and Perez, a Miami Republican, battled over which tax should be cut. Ultimately, the Legislature approved a $1.3 billion tax cut package and Perez created a committee to research the best way to lower costs for homeowners while ensuring state-funded facilities could still operate.
Chamberlin, who’s a member of the House’s 37-member property tax committee, insisted that his plan is not affiliated with DeSantis, the property tax committee, or anyone besides himself.
Still, he mentioned that he’d had recent conversations with the governor, former House Speaker — and GOP gubernatorial candidate — Paul Renner, Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia, Lt. Gov. Jay Collins, and state Sen. Stan McClain — the former House Ways and Means chairman — on cutting property taxes.
The governor’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
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Livia Caputo, Florida Phoenix
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