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DeSantis Blasts Mamdani Over Proposed Property Tax Hike As Florida Moves to Eliminate Them Entirely

Dmitri Bolt
Dmitri Bolt  |  February 20, 2026 12:45 PM

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis blasted New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani after the mayor floated a 9.5 percent increase in property taxes if he is unable to secure a 2 percent income tax hike on the wealthy to help close a staggering $7 billion budget gap.

DeSantis mocked Mamdani for campaigning on affordability, only to begin floating major tax increases just months into his tenure, as the potential hike in property taxes would ultimately fall on working-class New Yorkers, not just the wealthy.

"He's talking property taxes now if he can't get some other tax increase from the governor. What are you doing with property taxes?" CNBC's Joe Kernen asked. "You're going to phase them out completely?"

"Well, first of all, didn't he run on affordability?" DeSantis said of Mamdani. "How is it more affordable to raise property taxes on working-class people? I just don't understand that."

The governor went on to outline his own plan for property taxes in Florida, saying that instead of raising them, he is working to eliminate them entirely:

So what we're working through, and we got to work with the Florida legislature, is phasing out the property tax for Florida residents and their primary, what we call a homesteaded property. And the way it works in Florida is that's about a third of all the property tax revenue because, you know, these local governments are taxing investment properties, snowbirds, second, third homes, businesses, all those other things. And so the context of this is in 2019, local governments in Florida brought in $32 billion in property tax revenue. Now they're bringing in $60 billion.

DeSantis framed the issue as one of government excess and a lack of fiscal discipline. While acknowledging rising property values and population growth, he argued that the surge in local revenues has far outpaced any legitimate need for expanded taxes. In his view, the spike in collections reflects not responsible budgeting, but unchecked local taxation fueled by soaring assessments and weak state oversight.

"So if you go back to that 2019 level of spending, you give them population growth, you give them the inflation, even add a couple percent a year on top of that, you're not even close to $60 billion," DeSantis added. "So they're obviously getting a lot of this because property values have gone up. A lot of people moved to Florida, particularly during the COVID era, but people need relief."

He linked the explosion in local tax collections not only to rising home values but also to deeper issues in Florida's property tax system. The governor suggested that these long‑term distortions are now rippling through the housing market, with tax laws discouraging mobility and limiting access for younger or first‑time buyers.

"And what's happening, Joe, is you've got older people that have been in their home for a long time. They've had protection against valuation increases for 30 years. They're not downsizing because if they go from a three or four-bedroom home to a condo, the tax basis is going to be so much higher that they can't afford it.

"So that hurts young people having access to be able to do it. So it needs to go on the ballot. It needs to get 60 percent of the vote," he added. "And we'll be working on that through the balance of the year."

Florida's tax approach stands in sharp contrast to Mamdani's vision for New York City. While DeSantis is pushing to reduce, and potentially eliminate, the state's reliance on property taxes, Mamdani has made expanded taxation a central pillar of his platform. Though he initially pledged to target only the wealthy, that promise has begun to erode, and taxes on all property owners may be necessary to fix his budget issue. It won't be long before middle-class Americans join the wealthy in their flight from NYC.