The Impact of property taxes

Why do property taxes matter?

Florida is one of only a handful of states without a state income tax. As a result, property taxes serve as one of the primary sources of funding for counties, municipalities, and other local taxing authorities. Because the Florida Constitution limits many other local revenue options, property taxes play a central role in funding the services residents depend on every day.

Although renters do not pay property taxes directly, these costs are often incorporated into rental rates and commercial leases. Changes to the property tax system can therefore affect both homeowners and renters.

In Miami-Dade County, property taxes help fund services such as:

• Public schools: This proposal only preserves school public school system funding

• Public safety: Police, Fire Rescue, Emergency Medical Services, Corrections, specialized disaster response, and more

• County Libraries: Providing technology access, literacy programs, tutoring, passport services, and digital resources

• Transit: including Metrobus, Metrorail, Metromover, Special Transportation Service (STS), roadway improvements, bridges, sidewalks, and traffic management

• Parks and Recreation: More than 200 public parks, youth programs, sports facilities, and community spaces

• Jackson Health System: the county's safety-net hospital system provides care to a majority of Medicare and Medicaid patients

• Medicaid: Florida requires all counties to contribute local funds toward the state's basic Medicaid program to support healthcare for low-income residents

• Animal Services: Including shelters, adoptions, vaccinations, licensing, and animal welfare enforcement

• The Children's Trust: Largest supporter of after-school programs, summer camps, early childhood education, youth enrichment, and family services in Miami-Dade

• Other essential local functions include elections, courthouse operations, infrastructure maintenance, stormwater management, sanitation, public facilities, and voter-approved capital projects.

Understanding the potential impacts

If property tax revenues were substantially reduced, local governments would need to immediately determine how to replace that revenue or adjust spending. Depending on future legislative decisions and local budget choices, potential impacts could include:

• Reduced funding for public safety, libraries, parks, transit, and other local services

• Delays to infrastructure maintenance and capital improvement projects

• Reductions in recreation programs and community services

• Staffing reductions across local government agencies

• Increased reliance on other revenue sources, such as fees or taxes, where legally permitted

• Jeopardize healthcare access and thousands of healthcare jobs from our county’s largest provider - Jackson would lose up to $100 million annually

• Smaller municipalities across the State could stand to be shut down

• Financial pressures on public institutions, including healthcare providers and community programs

• Broader economic impacts if reductions in public services affect the region's ability to support residents, businesses, and tourism.

Affordability is a real concern — and there are alternative policy approaches

Many Florida homeowners are facing increasing housing costs, driven not only by property taxes but also by rapidly rising insurance premiums and other housing expenses. Policymakers have discussed a range of approaches to provide homeowner relief, including expanding homestead exemptions, limiting assessment growth, capping local tax levies, creating income-based tax relief programs, and pursuing insurance reforms. These options seek to address affordability while balancing the need to fund local services.

We recently published What Eliminating Property Taxes Could Mean for Miami-Dade Residents, an educational guide that explains:

• How property taxes are calculated

• What property taxes fund

• How local governments use property tax revenue

• Potential impacts on homeowners, renters, public services, and local budgets if the current system changes

Click here or scroll down to access the flipbook.

Eliminating property taxes will make Miami less affordable for most residents | Opinion

Executive Director, Annie Lord, penned an OP-ED recently published in the Miami Herald. Read it here.

Check out our educational webinar featuring Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, exploring how property taxes work in Miami-Dade County, the services they support, and the framework local governments use to fund community priorities. We encourage you to watch the discussion, share it with friends and family, and explore the facts before heading to the polls this November. 

Watch it here.

1. Make a plan to vote on November 3rd, 2026.

   1. Verify your voter registration through your local department of elections

   2. Plan ahead by requesting your vote-by-mail ballot OR check the early voting schedule for your local precinct. 

   3. Mark your calendar! The general election takes place on November 3, 2026. The voter registration deadline is on October 5, 2026. 

2. Share this information with your community of fellow Floridians. Although our guide is tailored to Miami-Dade County residents, similar impacts may take place in counties throughout the state.