Gov. Ron DeSantis told reporters the state will pursue a single, clearly written constitutional amendment to provide homestead property‑tax relief on the November 2026 ballot and criticized local governments for overspending.

“This is gonna be on the ballot in November 2026,” DeSantis said, adding that the amendment must be limited to one proposal. “You have to have 1 amendment. It’s gotta be very clearly written and give people a chance to vote for it.”

DeSantis framed the planned ballot measure as a response to what he described as widespread local overspending: rising property values have increased local revenues, he said, but many local governments have not reduced property taxes or returned excess dollars to taxpayers. He said the state’s CFO has pursued audits of local governments for the same reasons and that the university audits are related to broader fiscal oversight.

The governor rejected proposals to place multiple competing proposals on the ballot, arguing that multiple measures would create confusion and make it difficult for any single proposal to reach the 60% approval threshold needed for a constitutional amendment. “If anybody tells you that it’s better to just put 5 proposals on the ballot, they are what what and, I mean, look, I disagree with it substantively,” he said, describing multiple proposals as likely to fail due to voter confusion.

DeSantis said the intended amendment would focus on homesteaded property and would be structured to benefit current Florida residents rather than encourage relocation. He suggested complementary measures to protect budgets for education, first responders and law enforcement from being diverted to items he deems unrelated to those priorities.

On timeline, DeSantis said the campaign team is still finalizing language and thresholds and that the state will not publish the final proposal immediately because the wording must be precise. “You gotta get the language right. You gotta get the number,” he said.

In response to a question about coordination with House leaders, DeSantis said he had not yet spoken with Speaker from the prior week and asserted Speaker support had been uneven.