Florida property tax amendment 2026: what tri-county homeowners actually need to know

The Florida property tax amendment 2026 is a homestead-only proposal that phases out the non-school portion of property taxes over ten years starting in 2027, contingent on a July special session, legislative supermajorities, and 60 percent voter approval in November. School district taxes (about 40 percent of the average bill) stay. The angle the rest of the coverage is missing: even if it passes, the most likely effect on Palm Beach, Broward, and Miami-Dade is tighter inventory, not cheaper housing.

By Darek Homel, Broker-Owner, Landmark Signature Realty LLC | Updated May 26, 2026 · 8 min read

Is Florida really eliminating property taxes in 2026?
What does HJR 203 actually propose?
When will the special session happen?
How would the amendment affect tri-county home values?
Why the amendment could make tri-county inventory worse, not better
Should I sell my home before the November vote?
Should I buy now or wait for the November vote?
What if the amendment fails?
Frequently Asked Questions

Is Florida really eliminating property taxes in 2026?

No, not in the sweeping way the headlines suggest. The only proposal with real legislative momentum, Florida House Joint Resolution 203, eliminates only the non-school portion of property tax on homesteaded primary residences, phased over ten years starting in 2027. School district taxes, which the Florida Office of Economic and Demographic Research estimates at roughly 40 percent of the average homeowner's bill, remain in place.

Three gates stand between today and a real change. HJR 203 passed the Florida House on February 19, 2026 by an 80 to 30 vote, then died in the Senate on March 13 when the original session ended without a companion bill advancing. A budget special session is currently underway from May 12 through May 29, after which Governor DeSantis has signaled a property tax special session by the end of July. Both chambers must pass any constitutional amendment with a 60 percent supermajority, and Florida voters must then approve it with 60 percent support on the November 3, 2026 ballot.

What does HJR 203 actually propose?

The mechanism is a phased expansion of the existing homestead exemption. Starting in tax year 2027, the homestead exemption on the non-school portion of property tax rises by 100,000 dollars per year for ten consecutive years, reaching full elimination of the non-school portion by tax year 2037. The school portion is untouched at every step.

Eligibility is narrow. Only properties with an active Florida homestead exemption, meaning primary residences owned by Florida residents, qualify for any of the phased reduction. Second homes, investment properties, short-term rentals, commercial buildings, and snowbird residences are excluded. Non-ad-valorem assessments such as solid waste, fire rescue, and stormwater fees stay in place because they are not part of the millage-based property tax structure.

What stays on the homeowner's bill at the end of the phase-in is the school district millage, any voted debt service, and those non-ad-valorem assessments. Florida Realtors and the Florida Office of Economic and Demographic Research project this combination still produces a meaningful tax cut for long-tenure homestead owners while preserving school funding and the assessment-based services that local governments must keep delivering.

When will the special session happen?

Two sessions are queued. The budget special session, which began May 12, 2026 and runs through May 29, must close before any property tax session can be called. Governor DeSantis has publicly targeted a property tax special session by the end of July, with constitutional amendment language needing to be certified for the ballot no later than late August 2026 to make the November 3 general election.

That puts the realistic decision window at four months from today. If the Senate produces a companion that survives committee and floor work in July, the November ballot question is set by Labor Day. If the Senate stalls again the way it did on March 13, the issue rolls into 2027 and the next legislative session, which means the earliest possible effective date moves from January 1, 2027 to January 1, 2028.

How would the amendment affect tri-county home values?

The cleanest published estimate comes from Realtor.com chief economist Joel Berner, who projected a 7 to 9 percent home value increase if non-school property taxes were eliminated outright. Because the school portion stays in HJR 203, Berner's estimate moderates to roughly 4 percent in the realistic version. The mechanism is straightforward tax capitalization: buyers shop on total monthly housing cost, and removing a line item lets the same monthly payment carry more principal.

Tri-county conditions amplify that effect because supply is already tight on the seller-favorable end. Palm Beach County hit 4.6 months of inventory supply in April 2026 with active listings down 4.7 percent year over year, per Florida Realtors. The luxury tier is even tighter. South Florida pending sales for properties one million dollars and above rose 28.9 percent year over year in April, with Palm Beach up 43.4 percent, Miami-Dade up 41.8 percent, and Broward up 17.7 percent, per MIAMI Realtors.

The implication is asymmetric across price bands. A 4 percent capitalization effect on a 750,000 dollar home in Wellington is roughly 30,000 dollars of new pricing headroom. The same 4 percent on a 3.5 million dollar home in Coral Gables is 140,000 dollars. Sellers in the luxury bands stand to capture meaningfully more of the capitalization benefit than entry-tier sellers, but only if buyers stay in the market and only if the amendment actually passes.

Why the amendment could make tri-county inventory worse, not better

This is the part nobody is talking about. Most coverage frames the amendment as a homeowner win with a positive price effect, and stops there. The piece they are missing is what happens to listing supply when the cost of staying drops further than the cost of moving rises.

Florida's Save Our Homes cap already locks long-term homestead owners into assessed values well below market. A homeowner who bought a Boca Raton home for 380,000 in 2014 may have a current market value above 900,000 while their SOH-capped assessed value sits near 480,000, which means they already pay tax on roughly half their home's worth. Layer a near-zero non-school burden on top of that capped assessment and the carrying cost of staying drops further still, while the cost of buying a replacement home at today's prices and at today's mortgage rates remains high.

Tri-county inventory is already tightening. Palm Beach County at 4.6 months of supply with active listings down 4.7 percent year over year is not an oversupplied market. The amendment compounds the squeeze: fewer homes for sale because long-tenure owners have less reason to list, plus a 4 percent capitalization effect on whatever does come to market, equals buyers chasing fewer options at higher prices in Fort Lauderdale, Coral Gables, and Wellington alike.

Save Our Homes portability blunts the squeeze for some sellers. A homestead owner moving within Florida can port up to 500,000 dollars of accumulated SOH benefit to the next homestead, which preserves part of the assessment advantage. But the new non-school exemption layer in HJR 203 is property-level, not portable, which means a move resets the ten-year phase-in clock from year one. Long-tenure owners doing the math will see a stay incentive that grows every year the phase-in advances.

Should I sell my home before the November vote?

The honest answer is that the vote is not the biggest variable in your sale, your mortgage rate environment is. Freddie Mac reported the 30-year fixed at 6.51 percent on May 21, 2026, and rates have moved in 50 basis point swings within 2026 already. A 50 basis point rate change moves buyer purchasing power by roughly 5 percent, which is comparable to or larger than the projected amendment capitalization effect for the realistic HJR 203 version.

If the amendment passes, the 4 percent capitalization helps your listing price. The offsetting reality is that you are also a buyer of your next home, and the same 4 percent applies to what you are buying into, on thinner inventory. If the amendment fails, the market continues on current fundamentals: tight luxury supply, recovering insurance affordability, and rates that swing meaningfully with each Fed meeting.

The strategic move is to decide on your own timing, not on the vote. List when your equity, your next-home plan, and the current rate environment line up. Run your specific number with the net proceeds calculator or schedule a call with Darek to walk through whether the math actually works for your home and your timeline.

Should I buy now or wait for the November vote?

Waiting for rate relief is reasonable. Waiting for the vote while expecting the amendment to pass is a worse bet because amendment passage means you would be buying into higher prices on thinner supply, with most of the value capture going to the seller rather than to you.

The math is the same as the seller side, reversed. A 50 basis point rate change moves your buying power by roughly 5 percent, which is larger than the realistic 4 percent capitalization effect. If you are confident rates will be 50 basis points lower in November, waiting wins on rate alone, whether or not the amendment passes. If you are not confident, locking in current supply at current pricing avoids the inventory squeeze on the other side of the vote.

Browse current tri-county listings and watch the segments where supply is already tight. The luxury bands in Palm Beach Gardens, Coral Gables, and Sunny Isles Beach are the segments most likely to absorb the full 4 percent capitalization if the amendment passes, and they are the segments with the fewest substitute properties to negotiate against.

What if the amendment fails?

The 60 percent voter threshold is a high bar, and current polling is not where supporters need it to be. A March 2026 Florida Policy Institute poll found that 68 percent of Florida voters would prefer keeping property taxes over a 12 percent sales tax, which is the replacement revenue level FPI estimates would be required to fully eliminate non-school property tax. The Florida Chamber of Commerce estimates a smaller 8.85 percent sales tax under the narrower homestead-only version of the amendment, but that detail rarely makes it into headlines.

A separate Stetson University survey found that 77 percent of voters say they would support the amendment if Governor DeSantis pitched it personally. Those two polls are not contradictory; they are the same voters on either side of the funding trade-off being explained. Realistic outcomes range from outright failure to a heavily modified amendment that increases the homestead exemption by a fixed amount without full elimination. In any of those scenarios, the price effect on tri-county housing values is small enough that buyers and sellers should be planning around mortgage rates and inventory, not around the ballot.

Want a strategic read on your home or your next move in this market?

Most of the public conversation about the amendment is missing the inventory-squeeze angle, and that gap is where decisions either get sharp or get sloppy. Two ways to get a specific read on your situation:

Frequently Asked Questions

Will Florida eliminate property taxes in 2026?

No. Even in the strongest version of the proposal, only the non-school portion of property tax would be eliminated, and only on homesteaded primary residences, phased over 10 years starting in 2027. School district taxes (about 40 percent of the average bill) would remain. The amendment also has to pass a 60 percent supermajority in the Florida Legislature and 60 percent of voters in November 2026.

When would Florida's property tax elimination take effect?

Earliest effective date is January 1, 2027, and only if voters approve a constitutional amendment in November 2026. The House version (HJR 203) phases the homestead exemption up by 100,000 dollars per year for 10 years, reaching full elimination of non-school taxes by 2037.

Does the Florida property tax amendment apply to second homes or rentals?

No. The amendment applies only to homesteaded primary residences. Second homes, investment properties, vacation rentals, and commercial buildings are not included. Snowbirds and out-of-state owners would not benefit and could see relatively higher tax rates as local governments rebalance.

How would eliminating property taxes affect home prices in South Florida?

Realtor.com economist Joel Berner estimates a 7 to 9 percent home value increase if non-school property taxes are eliminated, moderated to around 4 percent because school taxes remain. The mechanism is tax capitalization: buyers shop on total monthly cost, and removing a line item lets the same payment buy more house, clearing prices higher.

What happens to school funding if Florida eliminates property taxes?

School district taxes are excluded from the amendment. Schools would continue receiving their portion of property tax revenue, which represents roughly 40 percent of the average tax bill. Non-school local government revenue is the portion targeted for elimination.

Will Florida raise sales tax if property taxes are eliminated?

Likely yes. The Florida Policy Institute estimates the state would need to raise sales tax from 6 percent to 12 percent to replace lost revenue. The Florida Chamber of Commerce estimates a smaller increase to 8.85 percent if only non-school homestead taxes are eliminated. A March 2026 FPI poll found 68 percent of Florida voters would prefer keeping property taxes rather than face a 12 percent sales tax.

How much would Palm Beach, Broward, and Miami-Dade lose if property taxes are eliminated?

The statewide impact is 14.8 to 18.3 billion dollars per year in lost local revenue. Miami-Dade alone could lose 900 million to 2.3 billion dollars per year, representing 28 percent of property tax revenue. Some Broward cities would see deeper cuts: Parkland would lose more than 75 percent of property tax revenue, Cooper City 62 percent, and Southwest Ranches 60.5 percent.