City of Ocoee

Citizen GuideTo Tax Facts

Property Tax, Fire Assessment & Amendment 3 Information

Call us: 407-905-3105Email us: Citizens@ocoee.org

How did we get here?

Ocoee adopted its FY2027 budget on September 23, 2026. Three developments shaped the discussion: rising public safety costs, a revised Fire Protection Assessment, and Amendment 3 on the November ballot.

Follow the timeline and the budget figures below to see when each decision happened and how they affect the City tax bill.

FY2027 budget adopted September 23, 2026. The new fiscal year starts October 1, 2026.
$74.26 millionFY2027 adopted General Fund, the City's main operating budget
4.9500 millsCity tax rate, unchanged. The eleventh straight year it held or dropped.
$27.55 millionProperty tax the General Fund expects to collect in FY2027
$383.90Yearly Fire Assessment per home, adopted August 18, 2026

Police and Fire cost more than property tax brings in

This is the heart of the story. Police and Fire alone cost more than all the property tax the City collects. Property tax is not set aside for any one department. It goes into the General Fund with other money, such as state shared taxes, utility taxes, fees and the Fire Assessment, and that combined fund pays for Police and Fire as well as roads, parks and City Hall.

Police and Fire equal 145% of the City's property tax revenue and 54% of the General Fund. The gap is about $12.5 million before a single road is paved or a park is mowed.

Pay and benefits

Police and Fire personnel cost $33.05 million in FY2027, up $2.54 million, or 8.34%, from last year under current union contracts.

Health and retirement

Health insurance and retirement costs across the General Fund total $13.86 million, up 14.2% in one year.

Regional competition

Orlando and Orange County keep raising public safety pay. Smaller cities like Ocoee have to keep up to hire and keep officers and firefighters.

Three changes, one budget

Each change works differently. It helps to keep them apart.

1. Rising public safety costs

The FY2027 General Fund spends $40.60 million on public safety, including $550,000 for emergency and disaster supplies. Ambulance service moved into its own Emergency Medical Services fund of $3.80 million with 14 full time and 6 part time positions, paid mostly by transport fees.

See the City budget data

2. A new Fire Assessment method

Ocoee has had a Fire Assessment since 2013. Homes were charged by building size: $69.50 per unit for about a decade, then $139.23 per unit in FY2026, when the average home paid about $242. For FY2027 the Commission adopted a new method at 45% of assessable fire costs: a flat $383.90 per home. It is a separate charge, not a property tax.

How the Fire Assessment works

3. Amendment 3

If 60% of voters approve on November 3, 2026, the homestead exemption for City taxes jumps to $150,000 in 2027 and $250,000 in 2028. The state estimates Ocoee would collect $5.44 million less in the first year and $13.42 million less each year once fully in place. The Budget Simulator uses the City's separate, rounded estimates of $4.1 million in the first year and $8.01 million in the second year.

What Amendment 3 changes

Why the Fire Assessment matters for Amendment 3. Amendment 3 reduces property tax. The Fire Assessment is not a property tax, so the amendment does not reduce it. The City's budget message expects the adopted assessment to bring in about $3.96 million more in FY2027, dedicated to fire protection.

Key dates

Some of this goes back decades. The state rules that shape today's tax bills came first, then the local fire funding decisions, then the 2026 events.

  • State decision
  • Ocoee fire funding
  • Ocoee budget
  1. 1992, in effect 1995

    Voters approve Save Our Homes

    Yearly growth in a homestead's assessed value is capped at 3% or inflation, whichever is lower.

  2. 2008

    A second homestead exemption and a 10% cap

    Voters add a second $25,000 homestead exemption for non school taxes and a 10% yearly cap on assessment growth for most property that is not a homestead.

  3. Through FY2025

    Fire Assessment holds at $69.50 per unit

    The rate per fire protection unit did not change for about a decade while staffing, equipment and readiness costs rose.

  4. FY2026

    The rate rises to $139.23 per unit

    The City doubled the existing rate while it studied a new method. Homes were still charged by size, averaging about $242. The FY2026 Fire Department budget was $14.77 million.

  5. May 19, 2026

    A new method is presented

    Staff proposed the Demand and Availability method, which splits fire costs by property type and building size.

  6. June 2, 2026

    Legislature passes the property tax amendment

    HJR 1F passed in a special session. It became Amendment 3 on the November ballot. The ballot wording was later rewritten after a court ruling in August.

  7. June 16, 2026

    A 70% ceiling is set for the notices

    The Commission set the maximum that could be mailed to property owners at 70% of assessable fire costs. That ceiling is not the adopted rate.

  8. Early August 2026

    The City Manager presents the budget

    The FY2027 proposal is balanced at 4.9500 mills and moves EMS and Building into their own funds.

  9. August 18, 2026

    Fire Assessment adopted at 45%

    The Commission adopted the new method and set FY2027 at 45%, or $383.90 per home. It will appear on the November 2026 tax bill.

  10. September 9, 2026

    First budget hearing

    The Commission tentatively adopted the millage rate and budget after public comment.

  11. September 23, 2026

    Final budget hearing

    The Commission adopted 4.9500 mills (Ordinance 2026-17) and the $140.56 million citywide budget (Ordinance 2026-18). The rate is 2.89% above the rolled back rate of 4.8111, so state law calls it a tax increase even though the rate did not change.

  12. November 3, 2026

    Voters decide Amendment 3

    It needs at least 60% statewide. If approved, it takes effect January 1, 2027 and first affects the City's FY2027/28 budget.

Why the notice said "tax increase." Property values in Ocoee rose, so the same 4.9500 rate brings in more money. Florida law requires any rate above the rolled back rate, the rate that would collect the same amount as last year, to be advertised as a tax increase. The TRIM Guide explains this in detail.

Where each item stands today

FY2027 budget: adopted

Adopted September 23, 2026. $140.56 million citywide, $74.26 million General Fund, 4.9500 mills. It runs October 1, 2026 through September 30, 2027.

Fire Assessment: adopted

Adopted August 18, 2026 at 45%. The $597.16 amount some notices showed was the 70% maximum, not the charge.

Amendment 3: on the ballot

Voters decide November 3, 2026. The City's budget was built so it can respond either way.

Sources