The Republican Legislature of Florida is proposing changes to the state’s property tax policy. There are a number of proposals that will make it to the 2026 ballot, and I have researched them so you don’t have to. I am going to break it down for you, using my own taxes as an illustration. Then you decide which is the one you want.
In my case, I pay about $6100 per year in property taxes on a $600,000 home. It breaks down like this:
- $1700 goes to the county
- $2000 to the town
- $1900 to the school board
- $400 per year goes to police, fire, EMS, hospital, and the water authority. This part is not an ad-valorum tax.
HJR 201 (Steele): Eliminates non-school ad-valorum property taxes for homesteads entirely. This would lower my taxes to $2300 per year ($1900 for the school board, $400 to police, fire, EMS, hospitals, and the water authority). This bill doesn’t prevent taxes that are flat fee based. Localities will likely switch to a non ad-valorum tax scheme, such as charging each property a flat fee as a tax.
HJR 203 (Miller): Phases out those same taxes over 10 years by adding an additional $100,000 exemption added each year. My taxes would go down by $500 the first year, $500 the second, and so on, until my taxes were finally about $2300 per year. This bill doesn’t prevent taxes that are flat fee based. Localities will likely switch to a non ad-valorum tax scheme, such as charging each property a flat fee as a tax.
HJR 205 (Porras): Exempts Florida residents 65 and older from paying non-school property taxes on homesteads. This one won’t change my taxes a bit until I turn 65, meaning that towns will simply raise taxes on everyone else to make up for the shortfall. Since those over 65 already get major breaks, many of them don’t pay taxes, anyhow. Politicians won’t face as much voter backlash. I think this is the one that politicians will love.
HJR 207 (Abbott): Creates a new 25% homestead exemption on non-school taxes — aiding current and first-time homebuyers. This one was trickier to decipher. I believe that it would lower my taxes by about $400 per year. It doesn’t prevent rate increases. I predict that localities will respond by raising milage rates. In the end, there will be no net change in what you actually pay.
HJR 209 (Busatta): Offers an extra $100,000 exemption to homeowners who carry property insurance, intended to ease overall housing costs. This one won’t make a huge difference. It would cut taxes by about $500 per year, but it would be an effective subsidy to insurance companies, who will happily raise insurance costs in response. It honestly looks like it was written by insurance companies.
HJR 211 (Overdorf): Eliminates the cap on “portability,” allowing homeowners to transfer their entire Save Our Homes benefit to a new property, even if it’s of lesser value. This one only lowers your tax liability if you sell your house and buy one of lesser value. I just went through this when I moved two years ago.
HJR 213 (Griffitts): Adjusts caps on taxable value growth — limiting increases to 3% over three years for homesteads (currently 3% annually) and 15% over three years for non-homesteads (currently 10% annually). This one won’t help now, it will just keep taxable value from growing as quickly as it does now. The loophole here is so large, you can drive a truck through it- there is nothing here that prevents localities from raising rates, the only cap is on taxable value. The net effect is that this won’t change your taxes a single cent.
In my opinion, HJR201 is the only one that will change anything, since a person owning a $200,000 house will wind up paying the same taxes as a person owning a million dollar house. To me, that is fair, since both are nominally receiving the same government services. Same services should mean same taxes.
9 Comments
Don Curton · October 18, 2025 at 9:28 am
Yeah, you hit the nail on the problems with every single initiative like this – the local and state govt still wants your money, they’ll just change how they take it. Reduce it in one area, increase it in another. I’ve fought the home valuation increase for decades now – politicians brag about how there was no raise in property taxes, only to increase my taxable value at the max limit year after year.
Without shrinking the govt there’ll be no real change.
Divemedic · October 18, 2025 at 12:34 pm
What’s interesting is the first proposal. It would result in flat fees instead of ad valorum taxes. That is a great advantage, because the $100,000 home would pay the same as a $700,000 home. That’s only fair to me, as both homes receive the same benefits from government, so why shouldn’t taxes be the same? Who says those with more money have to pay more? This places an effective cap on taxes. You can’t ask an old, widowed lady on social security to pay more than she makes, just so you can shake down a rich guy, because she simply doesn’t have it.
Jonathan · October 18, 2025 at 10:26 am
Two comments on those options (I’m not in Florida):
1. Most people have homeowners insurance since it’s required for a loan.
2. My state has a 3% annual cap on tax increases. There are enough loopholes it is irrelevant. Most of the time the reappraise since that’s the easiest loophole. Even a minor temporary change to your property can trigger a reappraisal.
Divemedic · October 18, 2025 at 12:28 pm
A growing number of homeowners with paid off mortgages are forgoing homeowners insurance, especially when on the coast. In some areas, it’s become so expensive and deductibles (especially hurricane deductibles) have become so large, insurance simply isn’t worth it. To make things worse, when there IS a loss, the company claims that it is an uninsurable loss and won’t pay. Even once you clear all of those hurdles, the company goes out of business in the wake of a major disaster and no one gets paid.
Don Curton · October 20, 2025 at 11:50 am
Yeah, I was surprised when talking to my parents several years back – they completely cut out all insurance except the bare minimum state mandated insurance for registering your car. No homeowners, no full coverage, etc. They said if anything happened, they could dip into the 401k and make do. Seriously considering that option for myself.
Slow Joe Crow · October 18, 2025 at 1:39 pm
I’m astonished at how much tax you pay. I live in Oregon which has high tax burden, but mostly income tax since we famously have no sales tax. Per the last bill I could quickly find (2023) My house is valued at $480,000, assessed at $189,000 and taxed $3000. That breaks out as roughly $1000 for the school district $1500 for the county and city including the sheriff and library and the rest is various bonds. I’m still paying half as much in property tax for a similar market value, although I suspect your house is bigger and has central air.
Divemedic · October 18, 2025 at 2:02 pm
Yeah. My house is a 3,000 square foot 4/4 with a pool, a 3 car garage, and 2 heat pumps
Property tax sucks, but that and a 5% sales tax are the only taxes we have.
Steady Steve · October 18, 2025 at 9:52 pm
If .gov at any level gets less from property taxes they will make it up somewhere else. Such as tax on fuel at the county level or electricity, cell service, etc. No matter what is done someone will be unhappy. The solution is less government and basic services only.
Andy · October 19, 2025 at 8:14 pm
For comparison’s sake, in another part of Florida. My home was purchased in 1995, for $80,000. The assessed value (basis of the taxation) is ~ $126,000, the fair market value would probably be twice that. For 2025, The county tax is $410; the school board is $538; the Fire district is $103, the Water Management District is $1.56; and the Mosquito Control District is $9. And if I pay by November 30 I can take a 4% discount.
In Florida, if you live in the home, you have the Homestead Exemption protection. The assessed value can go up a maximum of 3% / year, no matter what the real world market value does. A huge % of the properties in this county are owned by non-residents, so they don’t have that exemption. The other side of the Homestead Exemption is that the first $50,000 (all but school) or $25,000 (school) isn’t taxed. On a newly purchased home worth $1,000,000 that’s fairly trivial, on my home it’s not.
There are extra exemptions for over 65 or disabled. Disabled veterans or ex-POWs get a 100% exemption on their home (not on other properties).
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