Home values have cooled, but taxable values kept climbing. The 2026 vote asks whether homesteaded owners should get a bigger break.
A Florida property tax amendment goes to voters in 2026. It revives a basic question about who should benefit when home values rise. When values climb, the tax base grows even if millage rates stay the same, allowing local revenue to increase without a visible rate hike. Supporters of reform say too much of that growth flowed into government budgets instead of staying with homeowners. Local governments say those dollars pay for roads, fire protection, parks, and stormwater systems that keep communities running.
Lee County’s housing market helps explain why the issue has gained attention. Home prices have eased since their 2024 peak, but many taxable values continued to rise. Years of rising prices left many assessed values below market value. Florida’s Save Our Homes cap limits how fast those assessments rise, but they can keep climbing toward market value even after prices cool. On November 3, 2026, Florida voters will decide whether to expand the homestead exemption to $150,000 in 2027 and $250,000 in 2028. For many homeowners, the result could be a lower tax bill. For the county, it could mean collecting less on the same homes, year after year.
Key Takeaways
- A typical Cape Coral homestead could save around $1,900 a year in non-school taxes by 2028. School taxes and non-ad valorem assessments continue, so the full bill does not reach zero.
- The amendment would raise the non-school homestead exemption to $150,000 in 2027 and $250,000 in 2028. Florida voters decide on November 3, 2026, and it needs 60% approval.
- Prices have eased since their 2024 peak while Lee County’s taxable base kept rising.
- Buyers should not assume the seller’s tax bill becomes theirs; assessed value often resets toward market after a sale.
- If the amendment passes, lower homestead bills mean governments must replace revenue, add fees, restrain spending, or trim services.
How your tax bill works
Your property tax bill starts from three different numbers, and mixing them up is where confusion begins. The first is what your home would sell for, its market value, which the county calls just value. Your tax bill is not based on that figure. For a homestead, it rests on a capped version called assessed value. Save Our Homes holds that down each year. Your exemptions come off the assessed value, and what remains is your taxable value. Taxes based on that value are called ad valorem. Your bill also splits two ways. Part of that bill funds schools, which this amendment leaves untouched. The rest is the non-school portion the amendment would lower.
What the amendment changes
Today, homestead owners receive up to $50,000 in exemptions. The first $25,000 applies to all property taxes, including schools. A second $25,000 applies to assessed value between $50,000 and $75,000, and it excludes school taxes.
The amendment would raise the non-school exemption to $150,000 in 2027 and to $250,000 in 2028. From 2029, the amount would adjust for inflation. School taxes keep their own treatment, and they are the largest single piece of a Lee County tax bill. They run from about 34% in Fort Myers to 53% on Fort Myers Beach. If approved, the amendment would lower the non-school portion and leave the school portion in place. The ballot summary frames the $250,000 exemption as a first step. It directs lawmakers to create, by general law, a process for raising that exemption further over time.
What Lee County homeowners could save
Above a certain value, the dollar savings would hold flat, because the added exemption is capped. The amendment would raise the non-school exemption from about $50,000 today to $250,000 in 2028. That would add up to $200,000 in exempt value. Any homestead with an assessed value of $250,000 or more would receive the full additional exemption.
The figures below use a Cape Coral homestead at roughly 9.6 non-school mills. Rates differ by district, so a Fort Myers Beach or Estero homestead would land at a different number. Assessed value comes from your TRIM notice, the Truth in Millage statement mailed each summer. It differs from your home’s market price. These figures illustrate the math. They are not a quote for a specific home.
| Assessed value | Non-school savings, 2028 | Share of non-school value-based bill erased |
|---|---|---|
| $200,000 | about $1,440 | all of it |
| $250,000 | about $1,920 | all of it |
| $400,000 | about $1,920 | more than half |
| $800,000 | about $1,920 | about a quarter |
The added exemption caps at $200,000, so a $400,000 home and an $800,000 home save the same dollars. Below $250,000 in assessed value, the savings are smaller but can erase the non-school value-based bill entirely.
The 2027 step is smaller. The exemption reaches $150,000 first, which adds about $100,000 in exempt value. That saves a similar homeowner around $960 that year.
Where to look on your bill Look for three things: assessed value, taxable value, and non-ad valorem assessments. Those are flat charges not tied to your home’s value. The proposed exemption affects the non-school value-based portion of your bill. Other charges remain.
| Bill component | Reduced by the larger exemption? |
|---|---|
| County non-school millage | Yes |
| City non-school millage | Yes |
| Fire district millage | Yes, where it is ad valorem |
| School taxes | No |
| Solid waste assessment | No |
| Stormwater assessment | No |
| CDD fees | No |
What buyers and sellers should know about the Florida property tax amendment
This proposal may lower the cost of owning a primary residence. Some charges on the tax bill stay the same. The rules also differ for rentals, second homes, or new residents.
Buyers should not assume the seller’s tax bill will become theirs. After a sale, the cap starts over for the new owner, and the assessed value resets toward market. The Save Our Homes savings the prior owner built up does not carry over. A long-held home can show a low bill that climbs for the next owner. Estimate ownership costs using the likely reset value rather than the seller’s current tax bill.
Sellers have a different angle. Lower future tax bills reduce the cost of owning, which may support values over time, though that is uncertain. The same benefit can also make some owners less willing to move, since a larger exemption is worth keeping.
Investors and second-home buyers stay outside the homestead break. The amendment would lower the non-homestead assessment cap from 10% to 5% starting in 2027. That would slow how fast the taxable value of a rental, second home, or commercial property rises each year. Steadier assessments can mean more predictable yearly costs on those properties.
New residents would wait for the full benefit. Under the enrolled amendment text, anyone establishing Florida residency after December 31, 2026 would receive the standard exemption first. They would need to maintain Florida residency for five years before receiving the increased exemption.
Why your tax bill rose while home values cooled
Owners often expect a softer market to lower the tax bill. In 2026, that did not happen. Market values across much of Lee County flattened or dipped, yet tax bills did not follow. The county’s 2026 estimate shows just value down about 1.94%, while taxable value still rose about 2.94%. The market softened, but the taxable base still grew.
Save Our Homes is the reason. Florida voters approved the cap in 1992, and it took effect in 1995. It was built to separate your assessment from the market. The cap limits how much your assessed value can rise each year, to the lesser of 3% or inflation. If your assessed value sits below market value, it can keep climbing even when prices cool. Over six years, the county’s total just value rose far faster than its taxable value, roughly 90% against 79%. Countywide figures also include new construction, which adds value even when some existing homes change little. That cushion is why a small dip in 2026 still left many assessed values climbing.
A government can collect more revenue without raising its millage rate. When the taxable base grows, a flat rate still produces more. Cape Coral chose a different path. It adopted a rolled-back rate, which raises about the same revenue from existing property as the year before.
The case for the amendment
Supporters point to something unusual about the tax. A tax bill can climb even when a household’s income holds flat. A retired couple may own the same home for twenty years and watch its market value double. Their fixed income does not. From that view, the amendment protects long-term owners from being taxed out of homes they already hold.
Lee County Property Appraiser Matt Caldwell has argued the homestead system was overdue for a fix. He noted the system has not been substantially updated since 2008, even as inflation pushed values higher. Supporters also frame the change as fairness, since homesteaded owners would pay less while commercial property and second homes stay fully taxed.
Who pays for the difference
Your tax bill may go down, but the services it funds still cost money. That is the tradeoff. Homesteaded owners pay less each year, while the community funds those services from a smaller revenue base.
Counties and cities weigh a few options. They can raise millage on property that does not qualify for the homestead break. Fees or special assessments are another route. Cutting services is a third. Landlords and small businesses sit outside the homestead exemption, and their higher costs often reach renters.
Caldwell flagged the same risk. He noted that fees and charges outside millage are not covered by the homestead exemption. If local governments lean on those tools, a homeowner could pay more overall even as the homestead bill drops.
Local governments project steep revenue losses
The Lee County Board of County Commissioners voted on June 2 to oppose the amendment. It projected a revenue loss of about $129.7 million in fiscal year 2027-28. By 2028-29, that annual loss grows to about $240.8 million. The City of Fort Myers draws about half its general fund from property taxes. A large homestead exemption would remove a sizable share of the taxable base that supports that fund. Cape Coral estimates a $46 million loss in the second year without state replacement. Its options include moving the fire assessment to full cost recovery, or raising the sales tax or millage rate.
Supporters read the same figures differently. Local revenue has grown sharply through a decade of rising values. They argue some of the loss could be met with spending restraint rather than only cuts or fees. They also say voters should weigh whether every dollar now collected is essential.
The amendment leaves school taxes untouched. It also directs remaining property tax revenue toward core services, including public safety, schools, infrastructure, natural resources, and debt service. That language governs how remaining dollars are spent. It does not guarantee replacement of the revenue local governments lose.
How the measure reached the ballot
Years of rising property taxes turned into a statewide affordability issue. Lawmakers answered with a plan to cut them for homeowners. A change this size has to amend the state constitution, which only voters can approve. The Legislature passed the amendment on June 2, 2026, during a special session. The House voted 75 to 26, and the Senate voted 30 to 9. It carries the name Save Our Homes from Excessive Property Taxes. That borrows from the decades-old Save Our Homes assessment cap, though the two are separate. The cap limits how fast assessed value rises. The amendment raises the exemption. To take effect, it needs 60% approval from Florida voters on November 3, 2026. The first exemption increase would then apply to the 2027 tax year.
How to estimate your own tax bill before you vote
Start with your assessed value rather than your market value. You can find it on your Lee County Property Appraiser record. Subtract your exemptions to reach taxable value. Apply your local non-school millage to the non-school taxable value. Keep the school millage on the school taxable value, since the amendment does not touch it.
Then account for the charges that are not property taxes. Many bills include non-ad valorem assessments for solid waste, stormwater, or a community development district. These sit on the same bill, yet the homestead exemption usually does not reduce them. Fire protection differs by area. In many Lee districts it is its own value-based millage, so the exemption would lower that part too.
The result is a working estimate. Treat any savings as upside for now, since the amendment is not law yet. Your county and city budget hearings each August and the TRIM notice in your mailbox give the official figures.
Frequently Asked Questions
Only if 60% of voters approve it on November 3, 2026. The first exemption increase would apply to the 2027 tax year. The $250,000 level would arrive in 2028.
Part of it can. The exemption covers non-school taxes, while school taxes remain. School taxes are the largest slice of a Lee County tax bill. For some lower-assessed homesteads, much of the non-school portion could disappear by 2028.
Save Our Homes caps your assessed value below market. It rises each year toward market value by the lesser of 3% or inflation. That increase continues even when prices cool, so your taxable value and bill can climb.
Eventually. People who establish Florida residency after December 31, 2026 would keep the standard $50,000 exemption at first. The expanded amount would apply after five years of Florida residency.
The larger homestead exemption would apply to primary residences with homestead status. Rentals, second homes, and commercial properties do not receive the homestead exemption. The amendment would lower the non-school assessment cap for many non-homestead properties, from 10% to 5%, starting in 2027.
Final Thoughts
The Florida property tax amendment puts a real tradeoff in front of voters. Homesteaded owners would pay less each year, but the cost of that relief lands on local budgets. How communities absorb that cost is what reasonable voters will weigh differently. Your own assessed value is the best place to start, since it shows what you stand to save. On November 3, the rest is up to you.
If you want to understand what this means for your specific home or your next move in Southwest Florida, reach out to our team at Worthington Realty. We will walk through your numbers with you, with no pressure and no forced sign-up. You can also search every Fort Myers, Cape Coral, Estero, Bonita Springs, and Naples listing on our site without creating an account, because the choice to connect should always be yours.
