As Florida's legislative session gets closer to a scheduled March 13 end date, Gov. Ron DeSantis better have his veto pen handy.

If DeSantis is going to remain true to the principles he's been talking about repeatedly over the past several months, he may have to kill some legislation aimed at bringing more growth to the Sunshine State.

For months, DeSantis has been talking about doing away with property taxes, at least on "homesteaded" properties used as primary residences by state residents. (Killing property taxes is an idea that's under discussion in at least a dozen other states as well.)

No one likes taxes, so it's a politically popular idea. Except that property taxes are one of the major sources of revenue used by city and county governments to provide services like police, fire protection, roads, sewers, parks and libraries.

Why are local governments spending so much? Hmmm ...

Here's where it gets complicated: DeSantis said property taxes need to go because city and county governments are spending too much of them.

During a Feb. 25 news conference in St. Augustine, the Florida governor said local government spending has increased by $28 billion since 2019. (State government spending has gone up about as much during the same time frame, but unsurprisingly, that's not one of his talking points.)

Why is local government spending up so much? Because Florida's tax base has been increasing. According to the state Department of Revenue's website, property values statewide have risen from $2.9 trillion to $5.4 trillion during that time frame, so the revenue increase DeSantis cited, from $32 billion to $60 billion, is proportional to that.

New development projects add more money to the tax rolls, which is something Florida's leaders have been encouraging for decades.

Despite destructive hurricanes, oppressive summertime heat and a variety of dangerous reptiles, people have been flocking to Florida in large numbers since the first major land boom in the 1920s.

The state's population has swelled from fewer than 1 million in the 1920 census to more than 24 million today.

Natives and even relative newcomers grumble about traffic and overcrowding, but the state's political leaders have maintained that a growing tax base is needed to pay for government services.

It's kind of a Ponzi scheme if you think about it – with growth being touted as both the problem and its own solution – but that's how the building industry has rolled down here for many decades.

Florida has the power to limit growth, but doesn't use it

Theoretically, cities and counties have the authority to control how fast they grow through comprehensive planning documents and zoning regulations.

However, over the past several years, state officials have stripped away a great deal of that local decision-making authority.

In 2023, the legislature adopted the Live Local Act, which gave developers freedom to build multifamily housing on commercial and industrial properties without review of city or county planning boards or commissions, provided some of the housing was "affordable." 

Then last year, there was Senate Bill 180, which prohibits cities or counties from approving new building restrictions for areas that were affected by one or more hurricanes in 2025. That sweeping legislation, set to remain in effect for three years, covers virtually the entire state, not just areas that actually experienced storm damage. (Legislative "fixes" to make that law less restrictive have been under discussion this year.)

 This year's legislative session has featured even more pro-growth bills.

As the session winds down, there are still bills alive that would reduce local government control over their own land-use regulations, make it easier to expand development into rural areas and make it more difficult to place more local restrictions on building.

Perhaps the pro-growth headliner is a "blue ribbon" bill that would allow developments on 15,000 or more acres of land, again without city or county legislative approval, if the developers set aside some land for open space and meet other conditions. The bill was recently delayed, but not killed.

Local government officials generally dislike this type of legislation. City and county commissioners get blamed for unpopular developments enabled by state laws that they have little or no power to stop.

Ironically, although many state legislators start their political careers at the city or county government level, they don't have any trouble throwing their former comrades under the bus once they take office in Tallahassee.

If DeSantis is a man of principle, he won't let this happen

Because pro-growth legislation is often controversial in Florida, some of it is likely to get approved during the waning hours of the session, when public and media attention is fragmented in many different directions.

Yet if Gov. DeSantis is a man of principle, he won't let this happen. There's no guarantee 60% of the state's voters would cast ballots in favor of a constitutional amendment to abolish property taxes, particularly if they understand other taxes will rise, government services will decline, or both.

So if DeSantis is serious about stopping this explosive growth that's feeding local government spending, he should veto the pro-growth bills that reach his desk.

To do anything less would be inconsistent with the arguments he's been making about out-of-control local spending.

Blake Fontenay is USA TODAY's commentary editor.

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