Produced and monitored by the Florida League of Cities.
FYI – Florida’s taxes are half of what Texas taxes are.
Property taxes are how cities fund the services people count on—law enforcement, waste collection, road repair, emergency response, and more. Unlike other revenue sources, they stay in the community where they’re raised, giving residents a strong say in how dollars are spent. That’s the Florida way—and it works.
What is a millage rate?
It’s the tax rate applied to every $1,000 of taxable property value. A millage rate of 5.2 means $5.20 in city taxes for every $1,000 of assessed value.
Who sets it?
Your local city commission does—through public hearings and an open budget process. Decisions are made close to home, not by faraway politicians.
What affects your property tax bill?
Assessed Value – Set by the county appraiser based on market value.
Exemptions – Homestead and other exemptions reduce your taxable value.
Assessment Caps – Save Our Homes caps growth for full-time residents.
Millage Rate – Chosen annually by your local government to meet community needs.
What does it pay for?
City property taxes fund local essentials—services that protect safety, maintain infrastructure, and preserve quality of life. These include:
- Police and fire departments
- Street and sidewalk maintenance
- Waste and water services
- Parks and public spaces
- Neighborhood-based services
Can I lower my property tax bill?
Yes. Here’s how:
- Apply for exemptions like the homestead exemption.
- Review your assessed value—appeal if it’s inaccurate.
- Attend public budget hearings and make your voice heard.
Statewide, here’s how a dollar breaks down across core services
34.9 cents to county
38.9 to school district
15.7 to municipality
10.5 to other and special districts
Public safety—police, fire, and emergency response—makes up over half of Florida city budgets on average, funded largely by local property taxes.
State law caps how much your property taxes can increase each year, but there’s no cap on what cities pay for the vehicles, fuel, gear, and training needed to keep you safe.
Since COVID, those costs have surged—yet cities on average have kept taxes stable and services strong.
Slashing property taxes would only make it harder to meet rising costs without cutting essential services or raising other fees.
Public safety works best when funding stays local, transparent, and accountable.
I asked AI (GROK) if eliminating property taxes is a good idea. Here’s the response:
Governor Ron DeSantis has been pushing aggressively for major property tax relief in Florida, including the potential full elimination of property taxes on homesteaded (primary) residences for homeowners. This would require a constitutional amendment, which he aims to place on the November 2026 ballot for voter approval (needing 60% support).
As of November 2025, no such elimination has been enacted—it’s still in proposal stages, with DeSantis criticizing legislative alternatives and vetoing studies that might complicate the push. In the meantime, he’s proposed one-time rebates (e.g., averaging $1,000 per homestead) and targeted relief for rural counties, where the state could subsidize local services to offset lost revenue.
Importantly, property taxes are not a major revenue source for the Florida state government—they’re primarily collected and used by local entities (counties, cities, school districts) to fund services like schools, police, fire departments, and infrastructure.
The state collects only a tiny share (about 2-3% of its budget) from property taxes via shared revenues or assessments on certain properties. Eliminating them statewide would mainly hit local budgets, not the state’s core revenue streams.
DeSantis has argued locals can offset losses through efficiency audits (via his “DOGE” task force on government waste), shifting to tourist-targeted taxes, or state subsidies in low-population areas.
What do YOU think of Gov. DeSantis’ idea?
We def need alot more info before we can make an educated decision…..sounds like this change would be dependent on LOCAL budgets since this tax is NOT needed by the STATE but critical to individual towns/cities….BIG difference between the town closest to us…Ocala FL….and towns/cities like Naples Fl …. four hours down the Gulf coast from us……..also WHY is DeSantis even considering this? What’s his end goal on it and who would it benefit most??
p.s…..as senior homeowners, both in our 80’s, we initially thought Wow, how great is this, no Property taxes? Now that we’re getting more info and understanding our thoughts are changing. What will this elimination of this tax mean for everything else connected to home ownership and the town budgets?……Now sounds like a very slippery “can of worms” to us.
I think it is foolish and short sighted. How will we pay for services? The obvious way to make up the money is with an increase in sales tax, which is a very regressive tax and hurts the lower income people harder than the property tax does.
For sure…..as more is known about this the less likely it will happen….the real reason behind this is?……TBA I guess…….wonder what the gubernatorial candidates (like Donaldson) will say about this? Nothing this major is ever suggested without some reason to profit from it IMO…….
Yes! Count me as one who wants to start seeing over-bearing, wealth reallocating taxes removed! Re-imagine taxation in the US! We’ve been so conditioned to think we have to pay a tax or lose the “services” the government provides – that does NOT have to be the case. Taxes are imposed by the government, and we are seeing how corrupt/inefficient it is:
Look at the “services” provided – historically they were basic and essential – e.g. providing national security and infrastructure. Now they’ve expanded beyond what is “essential” to include numerous forms of welfare, subsidies, “buy-outs” for businesses that are “too big to fail”, salaries and benefits senators and congressmen established to continue having their countrymen foot their health insurance, personal protection, etc. for the rest of their lives, and the list goes on.
Taxes paid (very short list): Income (federal, state, local, social security and Medicare) – individual and corporate; property; sales; capital gains; estate; inheritance; excise (imposed on producers and passed through to customers – e.g. gas, alcohol, tobacco, etc.); travel (hotel, car rental, airline); licensing; utility; and the list goes on.
Property taxes are particularly vile because no one truly “owns their home” when the government can seize it if one doesn’t pay this tax. Consider the large number of senior citizens that have worked their whole life and paid into social security and now get a limited income (pensions have pretty much disappeared) and are struggling to pay for healthcare and Rx, food, home (even if debt-free, there’s still maintenance, utilities, PROPERTY TAX, etc.); transportation; etcetera.
Re-imagine taxes: In the past, the US funded its operations through excise taxes, tariffs, and customs duties. President Trump has implemented tariffs, and scaling back to essential services would result in a lot less need for tax revenue.
If municipalities were to really embrace an operating culture of continuous improvement, being serious about eliminating wasteful, fraudulent spending I think enough savings could be realized that millage rates could be substantially scaled back, or homestead exemptions substantially increased.
Property taxes are set up with the “appearance” that the taxpayer has some control over them – “oh look! I can file a homestead exemption and save myself some money!), but in reality, that exemption does not amount to much and has likely been included in the calculations to obtain the desired revenues. If everything were on the up and up, there wouldn’t be exemptions that people had to jump through hoops to obtain – the rates would just be lower, and the calculations would be straight forward and transparent.
On the expense side, going through the expenditures to see where the money is going and determine if it’s essential would be a good place to start (similar to/like DOGE) and requiring all government entities to present a detailed budget on the needs in advance of the year the money is needed, rather than starting with the prior year’s budget and auto increasing for inflation or new programs/expenses.
On the revenue side, maybe only having a sales tax that is re-configured by taxing only new items (e.g., a new house, car, etc.) and exempting essentials (e.g., food and Rx would not be taxed) which would likely result in a non-regressive tax. The tax may consist of a federal and local rate so either no other/or many less taxes are collected. Tax rates should likely be the same rate for all.
There have been a number of suggestions for how taxation and revenues can be approached. We would do well to eliminate what is broke rather than try to fix, as that has generally compounded the problem. What I’ve shared is my understanding of an approach that sounded reasonable, but would need further vetting.
Love all this discussion….exactly what we need…..debate/discussion to educate those who care to debate/discuss….it’s those who do NOT want discussion/debate, or way worse those who know nothing about what we are talking and do not want to know who worry me…..great comments! Thanks…..