Desantis Talks Property Tax

**SPEAKER_1** (0:00)
We're going to pivot here just a little bit because I want to play this audio from Daddy Desantis down in Florida. Let's do it, let's pivot. Let's pivot.
Daddy Desantis, Ron Desantis wants to get rid of property tax in Florida as a property owner. You own property, boy.

**Ethan** (0:19)
I do.

**SPEAKER_1** (0:19)
Multiple properties.

**Ethan** (0:20)
Yes, I got the parcels, as they say.

**SPEAKER_1** (0:23)
Exactly.
Let's listen to this clip about Desantis and like all the progressives are going nuts because, you know, how are we going to pay for everything? Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Here is Ron Desantis talking about getting rid of property tax in Florida.

**Ron Desantis** (0:38)
So we have 32 fiscally constrained counties. You can you could give them money to do all the homestead that they would, quote, lose. Although I don't like this idea. Government's losing revenue. It's not their money. It's your money. OK, government is not taking as much. You're getting constitutional protection for your property. That's a good thing. And we got to see it through the lens of the taxpayer and the homeowner. But nevertheless, you have some rural.
It's budget dust to give them grants.

**SPEAKER_1** (1:07)
What was he saying right there?

**Ethan** (1:10)
Budget dust?
The plan, the proposal there in Florida is to get rid of property taxes, which I'm all about. I mean, it would provide enormous relief to homeowners. And Florida, compared to some other states, including our own, is more in a position to make up that for that lost revenue through their tourism industry. You got loads of people who want to go to Florida, regardless of what time of year it is. It's where all the tropics are. You got the snorkeling opportunities, the boating opportunities, the seafood scene, the retirement villages. You know, I mean, you got a lot that's going on in Florida.

**SPEAKER_1** (1:47)
They already don't have the state income tax.

**Ethan** (1:49)
You could do this.

**SPEAKER_1** (1:50)
That's why people move there.

**Ethan** (1:51)
But you can do this very easily in Indiana. The only thing is that we would have to, well, we would have to shift it to the sales tax.
But then it is a much more equitable tax because it is based entirely on your ability and desire to interact with the economy. And no longer would your property be held hostage.

**SPEAKER_1** (2:11)
Interesting. Yeah. No, I lived in Texas for two years. They didn't have state income tax. And I looked at my paycheck. The paycheck I got when I was working in radio down there, I was like, is this right?
It seems so big. Am I really making this? I did. Now, like you said, the retail tax, I paid for it in other ways. So I go to the liquor store and pay three times what I'd pay here for a plastic traveler's fifth of Jim Beam. You know what I mean?

**Ethan** (2:40)
So the reality is that life isn't tax free. I mean, even Benjamin Franklin said the two things that are certain in life are death and taxes. You're going to pay the taxes. It's just a matter of where they come from. In this case, I think shifting that to a sales tax is much more equitable, as the lefties like to say.

**SPEAKER_1** (2:57)
Shifting it to its sales tax to where you don't lose your property is if you can't pay that property tax.

**Ethan** (3:02)
Bingo. Bingo. And then you don't have to interact with the economy if you don't want to, or you can do so on a much more limited basis if that's the way you want to plan.
I mean, look, speaking selfishly, I mean, it did save me north of $34,000 a year.

**SPEAKER_1** (3:20)
Oh, my God. That's how much you pay in property taxes for all your rentals?

**Ethan** (3:24)
Yeah. $17,000 every six months, man.

**SPEAKER_1** (3:27)
What's the most difficult part about being a property owner, a rental owner in this city?

**Ethan** (3:35)
Probably keeping up your optimism. When you walk into a property that you've put a lot of elbow grease to make a nice place to live, and you see these maniacs with holes punched in the wall and maxi pads duct tape over the dry wall so that way they can cover the hole and then they paint over the maxi pad.

**SPEAKER_1** (3:52)
What?

**Ethan** (3:53)
Yeah, yeah. And your nice cabinets that you cleaned up and you did designs on and they get like loose spray all over.

**SPEAKER_1** (4:02)
Do you own your own hazmat suit? Because are you the one that has to go in and clean up after a tenant?