You will get a chance to vote on whether or not to abolish property taxes this November.
The Florida legislature voted to ask voters to decide the future of property taxes when they go to the polls on November 3. A yes vote would significantly increase the homestead exemption amount locals would receive. A no vote would vote the idea down and keep the homestead exemption where it is.
The referendum, should it pass, would mean significant property tax savings for people who live in their own homes. It would also mean crushing deficits for local governments, which rely on property taxes to fund essential services like law enforcement, fire protection, and street crews. All told, the referendum would mean tens of millions of dollars removed from the cash flows of cities and county governments.
Representatives Patt Maney (R – South Okaloosa County) and Nathan Boyles (R – North Okaloosa County and Most of Santa Rosa County) voted against placing the measure on the ballot. Shane Abbott (R – Walton County) voted for the measure. Senators Don Gaetz (R – Crestview) and Jay Trumbull (R – Panama City) also voted to place the question on the ballot.
What passage of the amendment would do
If passed by voters with a 60% margin, the amendment would begin to pare down the revenue a city, county, or special taxing district could receive from property taxes by increasing the homestead exemption.
Starting in January of 2027, the homestead exemption would increase from $50,000 to $150,000. It would increase the exemption by another $100,000 to $250,000 in 2028, and adjust it for inflation each year thereafter.
The amendment would also allow the State Legislature to continue increasing the homestead exemption amount up to the property’s full value, effectively eliminating non-school property taxes in the state.
Non-homesteaded properties would also see changes to their tax payments. The maximum increase in assessed value for non-homesteaded residential and commercial property would drop from 10% to 5%.
New residents of the State of Florida wouldn’t see the benefit from the exemption immediately, though. The amendment, if passed, would require homestead claimants to reside in the state for 5 years before claiming the new additional homestead exemptions. They would still be eligible for the current exemptions, which lop off $50,000 in property value from their assessments and cap their property value at 3% per year.
According to the Florida Chamber of Commerce’s communications to its members on Tuesday, Local governments would be able to reduce the 5-year exemption requirement after 2030 by a two-thirds vote.
Finally, the amendment would require that all property taxes levied by cities and counties be used only for what the state considers “core services.” Those services include public safety, education, infrastructure, natural resources, bond repayment, local government employee retirement benefits, and the operations of county and constitutional offices.
Affect on local governments
The biggest losers, should this bill pass, would be local governments – and their employees.
Some would lose more than others. Areas with high numbers of homesteaded residential properties would see the worst deficits. East Niceville Fire District would lose two-thirds of its property tax revenues, or $1.2 million. Other Niceville-area government agencies, such as the city of Niceville (50% loss or more than $4 million) and the North Bay Fire Control District (59% loss or about $1.2 million), would have huge budget gaps to fill.
RELATED: Cities across Florida brace for property tax fight
Those least affected? Okaloosa Island would see a roughly six percent drop in property tax revenues. Destin would weigh in at about a 13% drop.
Critics of the cities and counties point out that some cities’ revenues have increased twofold over the last decade. Okaloosa County, for example, had a little more than 10% growth but saw the county’s all-inclusive budget (much of which is grants, state and federal funds) double.
Accounting only for property taxes: Property tax revenue for Okaloosa County alone increased from $50 million to $100 million between 2016 and 2025, though the millage rate (the rate at which the county taxes property owners on the values of their property) stayed the same. That increase is due to the astronomical increases in the value of property and new property construction to fit those 30,000-odd newcomers into Okaloosa County over the same time period.
Affect on military members
Representative Nathan Boyles thinks the Governor and the State Legislature had the right idea to talk about property tax reform. Over the last decade, Florida Trend reports, property values in the state have doubled. “I think there are places where, in the state of Florida, property owners are no longer getting good value for that investment that they are, they are compelled to make via property taxes, and so it is a very timely conversation,” he said.
But, the property tax relief promised by some, he believes, won’t be realized by owners in the Panhandle. “we’re pretty conservative and have pretty low millage rates, they are likely going to be forced to raise those millage rates to offset the revenue loss to ensure that they can maintain minimum service levels at the jail for the 911 system for EMS for the sheriff’s department and for some of those other core critical services which will not be able to be fully funded under the model if this if this referendum were to pass.”
Instead, much of the burden of paying for law enforcement, public safety and other necessities will be a “heavier load on smaller shoulders.” Those shoulders will still include the bulk of active-duty military members, thanks to a clause in the proposal that requires a homeowner to live in the state for five years before receiving additional property tax breaks from the government. That gap of time in between purchasing a homesteaded property and getting additional relief means those residents would see higher taxes in the short term. Not only will they not receive the property tax relief that longer-term residents have, but local governments will likely also have to increase their tax rates to make up for the loss of revenue from homesteaded properties. “ I would be mooching off someone else to pay for me, and I wasn’t comfortable with the system that potentially takes my cost of service and hands it to a young airman and his family,” Boyles said.
Ballot Language
The ballot language for the Florida Property Tax Referendum you will see during election season is below:
“CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT
ARTICLE VII, SECTIONS 4, 6, AND 9
ARTICLE XII
SAVE OUR HOMES FROM EXCESSIVE PROPERTY TAXES. — This amendment benefits Florida taxpayers by:
Exempting homestead properties from taxation. Exempts the first $250,000 of a homestead’s value from taxation for all levies other than school district levies and requires, through general law, a schedule for full elimination.
Ensuring funding for core services. Requires local governments to use remaining property taxes solely for core public needs, including public safety, education and schools, infrastructure, and natural resources.
Protecting small businesses. Limits future property tax assessments on businesses.
Ensuring fairness for Florida residents. Requires any person who establishes Florida residency after January 1, 2027, to maintain Florida residency for five years prior to receiving the increased homestead exemption.
If approved, the amendment would take effect on January 1, 2027.
A yes vote supports the state’s ability to increase the homestead exemption for non-school taxes to $150,000 starting in 2027 and to $250,000 starting in 2028. It gives the current exemption for homesteaded property of residents who’ve lived in Florida for less than five years. It would decrease the cap on assessed property increases for non-homesteaded properties from 10% to 5% annually. Finally, it would limit the use of property tax to what the state would deem “necessary.”
A no vote would keep the status quo on property tax in Florida.
