TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) – Leon County’s longest-serving commissioner rallied outside the county courthouse Wednesday, making a direct appeal to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to withdraw an amendment referendum concerning property tax cuts.
“I want for the governor to appreciate that this thing is not game time ready,” Bill Proctor said. “Governor, don’t pull the trigger.”
Proctor represents Leon County’s District 1, which includes the 32304 ZIP code, often considered the poorest in the state.
Proctor is also inviting the Governor on a tour of his district, so “that he might glean the frailty, the vulnerableness of which people’s lives are hanging on very thin threads.”
The message from Proctor’s press conference isn’t new. Local officials across the Sunshine State have expressed varying degrees of alarm as lawmakers voted to add the property tax measure to this November’s ballot.
Proctor said county officials estimated a potential $84 million loss in property tax revenue in the first two years should the measure pass.
“We’re supposed to operate like everything’s peachy keen,” Proctor said. “We can’t do it, and it’s going to be difficult.”
Gov. DeSantis’ office hasn’t responded to WCTV’s request for comment, including whether he’d accept the commissioner’s invitation for a tour.
The governor has voiced support for property tax cuts as a way to address Florida’s affordability problem, and signed the bill that accompanied the effort from lawmakers to place the property tax question on the ballot.
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