Florida's property tax debate runs on three facts: the average Florida homestead bill is built from a $50,000 exemption plus a 3% assessment cap, property taxes fund schools and county services rather than the state, and changing any of it requires a constitutional amendment approved by 60% of voters. That is why the 2026 conversation — from Governor Ron DeSantis's 2025 call to eliminate property taxes entirely to homestead-expansion resolutions filed for the 2026 legislative session, including HJR 203's proposal to phase out the non-school portion — moves at the speed of the ballot box, not the budget desk. Nothing about your March or April 2026 bill has changed yet.
This explainer covers the mechanics and the proposals. Miami In News publishes information, not tax advice; your county property appraiser's office governs your specific bill.
How is a Florida property tax bill actually calculated?
Three multiplications. Your property's assessed value times the millage rates set by each taxing authority (county, school board, water management district, sometimes a city) minus exemptions equals the bill. Two value numbers matter: market value, what the property appraiser says the home would sell for, and assessed value, which for homesteaded properties can rise at most 3% per year under the Save Our Homes cap, no matter what the market does. The gap between the two — the SOH differential — is why two identical houses can pay very different tax bills, and why the differential resets when a home is sold, which is one of the quiet costs of moving within Florida.
What does the homestead exemption actually save you?
The exemption removes the first $50,000 of value from taxation, but only the second $25,000 applies to non-school taxes — and it does not apply at all to value between $50,000 and $75,000 for school levies. On a home assessed at $450,000 with a combined millage near 20 mills, the exemption is worth roughly $1,000 a year. Homestead status also unlocks the 3% cap and portability: when you move within Florida, you can transfer up to $500,000 of accumulated cap savings to the new homestead.
| Rule | What it does | Who qualifies |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 homestead exemption | Removes value from taxable base | Permanent residents who own and occupy the home |
| Save Our Homes 3% cap | Limits annual assessed-value growth | Homesteaded properties |
| 10% non-homestead cap | Limits assessment growth on second homes and commercial | Non-homestead property, not school taxes |
| Portability | Transfers up to $500,000 of cap savings | Homestead owners moving within Florida |
What are Tallahassee's options in 2026?
Four families of proposals. First, full elimination of property taxes, which Governor DeSantis championed through 2025 — a change that would need to replace roughly $40 billion in local and school revenue statewide, per Florida TaxWatch's analyses of the idea, and would require a constitutional amendment. Second, expanding the homestead exemption, in versions from an added $100,000 to full non-school phase-outs like the resolutions filed for the 2026 session (HJR 203 among them). Third, restricting local revenue growth so millage rises slower. Fourth, doing nothing structural and returning rebates from surplus. Each shifts who pays: relief for homesteads means either cuts to county services or higher taxes on rentals, second homes and businesses — costs that land partly on renters through their landlords' bills.
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What does this mean if you rent in Miami?
Renters pay property tax indirectly. A rental building's tax line is in the landlord's cost stack, so expansion of homestead benefits alone would not touch it — renters' units are not homesteaded. Proposals that cut taxes only for owner-occupants widen the gap between owning and renting; proposals that cut all property taxes reach renters, but so do the service reductions that pay for them. When a ballot measure eventually arrives, the fiscal-impact statement on the ballot summary is the number to read.
What does this mean if you own?
If you are homesteaded, your protection is already the 3% cap, and any expansion of the exemption would stack on top. If you are planning to buy in Miami-Dade, remember the reset: the seller's low assessed value does not transfer, so budget the tax line on your purchase price, not the seller's bill — and if you sell, ask about portability before you buy the next place.
Why did bills jump so much since 2020?
The cap cuts both ways. Homesteaded owners who bought before the boom watched assessed values crawl at 3% while market values doubled, keeping their bills artificially tame. New buyers, though, inherit no cap: their assessment starts at the purchase price, and Miami-Dade's rapid price appreciation through 2021–2024 rolled straight into their tax line. Meanwhile local governments set millage rates on top of higher values, and the non-homested stock — rentals and second homes across Miami Beach and Brickell — absorbed the 10% cap's ceiling annually. The result is a two-tier system that the 2026 debate is, in part, a reaction to: longtime owners pay little relative to value; newcomers and landlords pay a lot, and pass part of it on.
What are TRIM notices and when can you protest?
Every August, property appraisers mail a Truth in Millage (TRIM) notice showing your proposed market value, exemptions and the millage rates each authority plans to charge — it looks like a bill but is not one. The protest window runs 25 days from the mailing: file a petition with the county Value Adjustment Board if you believe the market value overstates what your home would sell for, with comparable sales as evidence. Miss the window and the assessment stands for the year. Renters do not get a TRIM notice, but owners converting a home to a rental should know the homestead comes off, the cap ends and the 10% non-homestead cap begins.
Which questions matter before the next ballot?
- What is the fiscal-impact estimate, and which revenue replaces what is cut — sales taxes, fees, or service reductions?
- Does the change apply only to school levies or all millage, and does it help rentals and condos or homesteads alone?
- What happens to the Save Our Homes cap and portability if the exemption expands — do the two systems stack?
- How does Miami-Dade's budget, which leans heavily on property tax revenue, plan to absorb the change?
What happens next?
Any structural change must pass the Legislature by three-quarters of each chamber as a joint resolution, then win 60% of the vote statewide. Miami-Dade owners and renters can track proposals on the Florida Senate's bill pages and read the county's own revenue estimates before forming a view — the debate is about trade-offs, not free money.