- Paul Renner, a Republican gubernatorial candidate, proposes a $34 billion plan prioritizing affordability by rolling back property taxes and shifting tax burdens to tourists and non-residents.
- Renner criticizes Community Redevelopment Agencies for prolonged abuse and pledges to enforce accountability for misuse of taxpayer funds without infringing on home rule.
Republican gubernatorial candidate Paul Renner stopped in Newberry on Wednesday to field questions during a lunchtime meet-and-greet on his Florida First campaign tour.
Around 15 Alachua County residents showed up at the Mentholee Norfleet Municipal Building for the event facilitated by Mayor Tim Marden. Renner is one of 15 Republicans of the 48 candidates vying for Gov. Ron DeSantis’s seat in November.
The U.S. Navy veteran is a Florida native and University of Florida law school graduate. Renner, 59, served as assistant state attorney early in his career and as Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives from 2022 to 2024.
On Wednesday, Renner said his priority as governor would be affordability. According to Renner’s website, this would come in a five-part plan, including rolling back property taxes, reducing insurance costs, creating accessible healthcare, revamping education and growing jobs.
The candidate aims to push Congress to repeal Obamacare, keep in-state tuition from rising, ban international students from “adversarial countries” like China from being admitted to higher education in Florida, and prohibit H-1B visas from being used for state employment.
Renner said he is the only candidate offering an alternative homestead exemption plan to what Florida Lawmakers approved on Tuesday, and that he liked his better.
Unlike DeSantis’s plan, which incorporated a grant program as a backstop, Renner said his backstop would come through alternative taxes shifted onto tourists and non-Floridians. Renner said property owners would still pay taxes for schools under the approved plan, whereas his plan would eliminate the taxes altogether.
Money that would’ve been made from the property would be generated from savings, a permanent DOGE, procurement efficiencies and prevent AI data centers—such as the one rumored near Alachua—from popping up to keep energy costs from rising.
“The plan is a $34 billion plan, and I’ve got a combination of savings and taxes,” Renner said. “We’ll save as much as we can and tax as little as we need to make it whole, but that’s where my plan differs. It’s bolder on the relief side. It also allows a path that doesn’t burden Floridians to cover essential services.”
Attendees raised questions about Renner’s stance on holding counties accountable if taxpayer dollars are misused and on Community Redevelopment Agencies (CRA).
Zeezenia Farm & Sofra owner Fawzy Ebrahim said he felt Alachua County’s half-cent tax levied for roads hadn’t been invested as it should have been into fixing the roads. Renner said as governor, he wouldn’t infringe on home rule but would look to set up guardrails to make sure the money is being spent as it should. He said he had no problem removing governing officials if found in violation of the tax.
Renner also said he wasn’t a fan of CRAs. Although they might work initially, he likened them to a self-licking ice cream cone, where people who want a particular area to get glitzier will keep the money there.
“I understand the concept, but I think there’s been a lot of abuse where the CRA accomplished most of what it was going to do for the initial years, but it lives on and on and on, and now it’s a gravy train for people who have an interest in the CRA,” Renner said.