Property Tax Reliance & Amendment 3
How much of each Central Florida city’s operating budget comes from property tax, and what the state estimates Amendment 3 would cost each of them.
What this page shows
Cities pay for services with several kinds of money. Property tax is one. Others include state shared revenue, utility and franchise taxes, permit fees, fines, and charges for things like recreation programs.
"Reliance" just means: of all the money a city takes in each year to run itself, how much comes from property tax? A city at 25% gets one quarter of its recurring General Fund revenue from property tax; a city at 55% gets more than half.
Why it matters right now. Amendment 3 is on the November 3, 2026 ballot. The current official ballot summary would increase the non school homestead exemption, reduce the non homestead assessment growth cap from 10% to 5%, establish timing rules for certain new Florida residents, and add provisions governing county and municipal use of ad valorem revenue. The table below shows each city's current property tax reliance so readers can compare that existing budget structure with the state's estimated revenue effects.
Two things to know before you read the table
1. "Recurring" money only. Cities often carry leftover cash from last year into this year's budget. That is real money, but it does not come back every year, so counting it would make a city look less property tax dependent than it is. Ocoee's budget shows $74.26 million in total General Fund revenue; this page uses $69.91 million after setting aside $4.35 million of carried over cash.
2. Not every city publishes the same way. The last column says how solid each city's figures are: Exact means the budget gave precise dollar amounts. Normalized means one time money had to be subtracted to make the city comparable. Rounded means the city only published rounded numbers, so the percentage is approximate. Nothing here is filled in. Where a city's FY2027 figures could not be verified, the city is left out rather than guessed at.
Property tax share of recurring General Fund revenue
Cities are listed alphabetically. “Exact” means the source budget provided exact dollar figures. “Normalized” means the recurring denominator required an explicit subtraction of separately identified nonrecurring sources. “Rounded” means the official source only published rounded figures at the level used here.
| City | FY27 budget basis | Property tax | Recurring General Fund | Share from property tax | QA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Altamonte SpringsSeminole County | FY2027 Recommended | $21,532,165 | $49,572,485 | 43.4% | Exact |
| ApopkaOrange County | FY2027 Proposed | $41,212,742 | $102,999,728 | 40.0% | Exact |
| CasselberrySeminole County | FY2027 Budget | $11,718,274 | $31,239,079 | 37.5% | Exact |
| ClermontLake County | FY2027 Proposed | $29,500,000 | $66,635,418 | 44.3% | Exact |
| Lake MarySeminole County | FY2027 Tentative | $13,497,135 | $31,007,635 | 43.5% | Exact |
| LeesburgLake County | FY2027 Proposed | $11,081,624 | $43,710,657 | 25.4% | Exact |
| MaitlandOrange County | FY2027 Draft | $18,808,000 | $42,441,000 | 44.3% | Exact |
| Mount DoraLake County | FY2027 Proposed | $14,254,354 | $35,353,016 | 40.3% | Exact |
| OcoeeOrange County | FY2027 Adopted | $27,554,139 | $69,908,483 | 39.4% | Exact |
| OviedoSeminole County | FY2027 Proposed | $24,825,579 | $46,073,208 | 53.9% | Exact |
| SanfordSeminole County | FY2027 Proposed | $49,266,316 | $88,243,772 | 55.8% | Exact |
| TavaresLake County | FY2027 Proposed | $14,173,064 | $32,403,459 | 43.7% | Exact |
| TitusvilleBrevard County | FY2027 Proposed | $24,640,545 | $60,209,632 | 40.9% | Normalized |
| Winter GardenOrange County | FY2027 Proposed | ≈$32.6M | ≈$75.2M | ≈43.4% | Rounded |
| Winter ParkOrange County | FY2027 Proposed | ≈$41.8M | ≈$94.6M | ≈44.2% | Rounded |
| Winter SpringsSeminole County | FY2027 Proposed | $10,442,261 | $26,844,967 | 38.9% | Exact |
Ocoee normalization
FY27 total General Fund revenue is $74,260,951. The page excludes $4,352,468 of beginning cash balance, leaving $69,908,483 in recurring sources. The property tax numerator uses the actual FY27 budget line item of $27,554,139, not the higher gross amount shown in the millage narrative.
Apopka normalization
The FY27 detailed General Fund revenue accounts total $106,099,728. A separately identified $3,100,000 “Other Financing Sources” amount is removed under this page’s recurring revenue definition, producing a $102,999,728 denominator.
Titusville normalization
The recurring denominator removes $3,310,164 of prior year appropriations and $1,114,630 of installment purchase proceeds from the published FY27 General Fund revenue schedule.
Rounded source treatment
Winter Garden and Winter Park are clearly marked where only rounded workshop/briefing figures are used. The page does not invent extra decimal precision.
Current ballot language and state revenue estimates
Current status: the Florida Department of State lists Amendment 3 as active for the November 3, 2026 General Election. The ballot title describes a larger homestead exemption and a lower cap on assessment increases for property that is not a homestead. If approved by at least 60% of voters, the amendment would take effect January 1, 2027.
What the current official summary says: the non school homestead exemption would rise to $150,000 in 2027 and $250,000 in 2028, with inflation adjustments thereafter; the annual assessment growth cap on non homestead property would fall from 10% to 5%; certain people who are not Florida residents on December 31, 2026 would receive the increased exemption beginning with the fifth year of exemption; and the amendment contains provisions governing how counties and municipalities may use ad valorem revenue.
Statewide estimate: the state Revenue Estimating Conference estimated on July 10, 2026 that local governments would collect $4.93 billion less in FY2027/28, $8.71 billion less in FY2028/29, and $11.83 billion less each year once fully in place. The city figures below come from the same July 10, 2026 estimate. They are state estimates, not City forecasts.
Ocoee example: the state scenario estimates a $5,436,534 first year reduction. That equals 19.7% of the City's FY2027 adopted $27,554,139 current ad valorem line and 7.8% of the $69,908,483 recurring General Fund denominator used on this page. The fully phased recurring estimate shown for Ocoee is $13,422,070. The Budget Simulator uses separate, rounded City presentation estimates of $4.1 million in the first year and $8.01 million in the second year, based on the FY2026 adopted budget.
| City | First year revenue loss FY2027/28 | Share of the city’s property tax revenue | Share of the city’s recurring General Fund revenue | Annual loss once fully phased in FY2031/32 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Altamonte Springs | $2,671,910 | 12.4% | 5.4% | $6,133,905 |
| Apopka | $6,159,132 | 14.9% | 6.0% | $15,441,994 |
| Casselberry | $2,163,373 | 18.5% | 6.9% | $4,807,148 |
| Clermont | $5,848,372 | 19.8% | 8.8% | $14,960,211 |
| Kissimmee | $4,999,097 | Not calculated | Not calculated | $13,945,834 |
| Lake Mary | $1,615,176 | 12.0% | 5.2% | $4,206,922 |
| Leesburg | $2,590,944 | 23.4% | 5.9% | $6,636,287 |
| Mount Dora | $2,892,771 | 20.3% | 8.2% | $7,427,992 |
| Ocoee | $5,436,534 | 19.7% | 7.8% | $13,422,070 |
| Orlando | $31,710,852 | Not calculated | Not calculated | $100,130,622 |
| Oviedo | $5,592,347 | 22.5% | 12.1% | $12,978,284 |
| Sanford | $6,635,567 | 13.5% | 7.5% | $15,456,706 |
| Titusville | $5,793,009 | 23.5% | 9.6% | $11,666,312 |
| Winter Garden | $5,408,563 | ≈16.6% | ≈7.2% | $13,931,664 |
| Winter Park | $3,424,132 | ≈8.2% | ≈3.6% | $10,050,871 |
| Winter Springs | $2,464,590 | 23.6% | 9.2% | $5,530,947 |
QA note. Both percentage columns are calculated from the same figures shown in the reliance table above: the state’s first year estimate divided by that city’s property tax line, and by its recurring General Fund revenue. Recalculated October 2, 2026, after an earlier version of this table was found to use older denominators. Orlando and Kissimmee are shown with the state’s dollar estimates only, because their FY2027 budget figures could not be verified. Maitland and Tavares appear in the reliance table but not here; their state estimates have not yet been added. Winter Garden and Winter Park percentages are approximate because their budget figures are rounded. For Ocoee, the General Fund column uses $69,908,483 of recurring revenue after removing $4,352,468 of beginning cash balance, not the $74,260,951 total. Against the total the Ocoee figure would read 7.3% rather than 7.8%. The recurring basis is used so the percentage is comparable across cities, since each city carries a different amount of one time balance forward.
Primary sources
- City FY2027 proposed/recommended/tentative budget books supplied for Altamonte Springs, Apopka, Casselberry, Clermont, Lake Mary, Leesburg, Maitland, Mount Dora, Ocoee, Oviedo, Sanford, Tavares, Winter Park and Winter Springs.
- City of Winter Garden Fiscal Management (opens in a new tab) and FY2027 Budget Workshop.
- City of Titusville FY2027 Proposed Budget (opens in a new tab).
- City of Orlando Budget Documents (opens in a new tab), FY27 proposal status checked September 23, 2026.
- City of Kissimmee Budget & Finances (opens in a new tab).
- Florida Department of State, Amendment 3 (opens in a new tab), current official ballot title, summary and status.
- Florida Chamber Amendment 3 Resource Center (opens in a new tab), current law comparison, statewide DOR/EDR fiscal impact figures and attributed perspectives.
- Local Voices United, Property Tax (opens in a new tab), external advocacy perspective; included as a viewpoint source, not as the authority for ballot language or City figures.