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Property‑appraiser warns homestead exemption could remove majority of county homestead base; schools remain funded
Summary
The property appraiser told commissioners that the proposed homestead‑exemption ballot could relieve up to ~70–72% of county homesteaded properties from paying the county portion of property tax under the early phases of the proposal, but school millage would remain in effect.
Greg Brown, the county property appraiser, told the Board that the recently adopted state proposal for homestead exemptions would substantially shrink the county's taxable base for non‑school millage rates if voters approve the measure in November.
Greg provided an estimate that the first‑phase exemption would reduce the county's homestead base by about 70–72%: "County related after the $150,000 exemption in year 1 ... would go to 41%. And then year 2 ... $250,000 would be 69.96. So 70% would be completely eliminated from paying the county portion of the property tax," he said. He emphasized that the school millage would remain in place and that roughly half of current property taxes go to schools.
Greg also said his office has built an amendment estimator on the county's website (srcpa.gov) for residents to preview likely impacts, and he noted the office had already submitted required June 1 budget estimates to the Florida Department of Revenue. He cautioned that if the county reduces millage concurrently, the net effect on residents would change and that some exemptions (for 100% disabled veterans) already remove significant assessment value from the tax roll.
