**TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida’s property tax showdown is escalating as Lieutenant Governor Jay Collins has thrown his full support behind Governor Ron DeSantis’ call for a single, all-encompassing amendment in 2026. The duo is rejecting the Florida House’s multi-proposal plan, calling it confusing and weak.**

DeSantis previously dismissed the House’s eight-part reform package—which includes seven proposed constitutional amendments and one bill—as “milquetoast.” He argues that multiple measures would confuse voters and doom any chance of passing meaningful reform, given Florida’s 60% voter-approval threshold.

Lieutenant Governor Collins echoed that stance on Thursday, stating there should be only one question on the ballot: an initiative to fully exempt homesteaded Floridians from property taxes.

“Remember the movie ‘Highlander’ back in the day? ‘There can only be one,’ right?” Collins said. “You can’t have six or seven or eight different things. It just confuses the ballot. It actually confuses the people right now. What does what? Where are the lines?”

The House package, unveiled last month by Speaker Danny Perez, would give voters a menu of choices to reduce property taxes. Ideas crafted by the Select Committee on Property Taxes range from new senior exemptions to caps on property value increases, all while aiming to preserve about $21 billion in local school funding.

Perez has defended the plan as giving voters the power to decide, but the governor and his team see it as “half measures.” According to Collins, DeSantis’ proposal is still being refined, with an emphasis on fiscal responsibility and protecting essential services.

“I’m going to say this as a guy with 10 fingers and five toes, math always wins,” Collins said. “We’re going to do the math. The governor’s already done the preliminaries. Do you think he’d be talking about this if it wasn’t functionally possible? Don’t bet against DeSantis. The guy’s been proven right so many times.”

Despite repeated assurances from the governor’s team that local governments will be able to afford the cuts, Democrats continue to warn that both Republican proposals could devastate city, county, and school district budgets.

“I’m not comfortable seeing my city parks charge a fee for kids to play or having fewer police and firefighters,” said House Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell (D-Tampa). “That’s not worth the loss of critical local services.”

Rep. Christine Hunschofsky (D-Parkland) added, “We might end up changing communities in a way people didn’t sign up for.”

Collins brushed off those concerns as “political games,” saying municipalities are already “doing cheetah flips” over the idea of losing revenue.

“Stop the crap,” he said. “One bill. Let’s do the hard work to get there and show people we’re going to earn their trust.”

The governor’s proposal has not been released yet, but Collins says it’s coming soon and that DeSantis will unveil it “at his own pace.”
https://www.wptv.com/news/state/there-can-only-be-one-collins-echoes-desantis-in-clash-with-florida-house-over-tax-reform