Florida Lawmakers Weigh $1,000 Property Tax Rebates as Home Values Soar 51% in 6 Years

After adding a second story and a new roof to their family home, Walter and Debbie’s property tax bills jumped from $15,000 a year to an eye-watering $91,000.

The culprit was more than just the material improvements they made to their property—it was that the addition had triggered a reassessment of their home at current market value, stripping away protections under Florida’s Save Our Homes cap, which limits annual increases in taxable value to 3%. 

Their case is extreme, but it underscores a broader crisis unfolding across Florida. Since 2019, property values in the state have risen 51%, according to Realtor.com® data, and property tax bills have jumped nearly 45% alongside them, according to some estimates.

“The growth in property taxes are due in large part to climbing home values,” explains Realtor.com senior economic research analyst Hannah Jones. “Though home price growth in Florida has cooled from the [COVID-19] pandemic-era frenzy, home values have grown significantly over the last six years, taking property tax bills with them.”

In response, Gov. Ron DeSantis has gone so far as to call for an end to property taxes in the state. But with property taxes being the largest source of revenue for local governments and a key driver of income for the state since Florida lacks an income tax, the fate of that proposal remains a big question mark. 

And now, lawmakers are weighing a more modest step: a $1,000 annual rebate for qualifying homeowners, which could benefit as many as 3.5 million Floridians starting in 2026.

What the bill does

House Bill 71, sponsored by Republican state Rep. Jeff Holcomb, would offer a $1,000 rebate to homeowners who receive a homestead exemption on properties valued between $100,000 and $450,000. 

It’s a range meant to capture middle-class households most squeezed by rising tax bills and weed out higher-value homes and higher earners.

Across the state, homeowners are facing a trifecta of rising costs: insurance premiums, utilities, and property taxes have all surged since the pandemic—expenses that are hitting middle- and lower-income households hardest. And today, Florida homeowners rank among the most cost-burdened in the U.S., according to a National Association of Home Builders analysis of the American Community Survey.

Even with the state’s Save Our Homes amendment, many homeowners are still paying significantly more each year than they did just a few years ago. From 2023 to 2024 alone, property tax bills in the state climbed almost 4%, according to Realtor.com data.

“I hear it all the time, you don't want people pushed out of their homes for property insurance, property taxes," Holcomb told Tampa’s WFLA.

If the measure clears the state Legislature and is signed into law, the proposed rebate could offset almost 30% of what a typical homeowner pays each year (based on a median property tax bill of $3,659, according to Realtor.com data). But it would come at a significant cost to the state: roughly $3.5 billion.

And in the long run, the relief may seem more symbolic than structural. Its impact will depend largely on how fast home values and the taxes tied to them continue to grow, and whether lawmakers renew the program once the five-year window ends.

The DeSantis factor

The idea for a property tax rebate dates to early 2025 in DeSantis’ office. In March, the governor called on lawmakers to deliver what he described as “immediate property tax relief” in the form of $1,000 rebate checks to homeowners.

“Property taxes effectively require homeowners to pay rent to the government,” he said in a March press release outlining the plan. “Constitutional protections for Florida homeowners require approval of the voters in 2026. In the meantime, Floridians need relief.”

DeSantis wanted the checks to go out by the end of this year, but Holcomb’s version would take a slower, more targeted approach. His plan would start in 2026, cap eligibility based on home value, and last for five years, rather than being a one-time payment.

Still, the political DNA of the two proposals is the same: Both tap into voter frustration over rising costs and a sense that Florida’s pandemic housing boom has left middle-class homeowners footing the bill.

That populist push for tax relief has also opened the door to a much larger conversation in Tallahassee—one that DeSantis and his allies have been floating for months: whether Florida should eliminate property taxes altogether. The idea, while politically appealing, raises deep questions about how the state would fund schools, infrastructure, and public safety without one of its most stable revenue sources.

Critics say relief comes with risks

On paper, a $1,000 check seems like a no-brainer, especially when homeowners are struggling.

But in practice, the tab adds up fast. Budget hawks warn that even “temporary” relief programs have a way of becoming permanent, squeezing room for schools, resilience projects, and hurricane recovery when the next crisis hits.

There’s also an equity problem. The rebate targets primary, homesteaded owners. Renters, who’ve seen housing costs escalate and often shoulder property-tax pass-throughs in their rent, get nothing. Nor do mom and pop landlords or small businesses facing their own tax and insurance spikes.

Policy analysts also caution that the rebate doesn’t fix the mechanics driving bills higher. Property values since 2020 have outpaced inflation by a wide margin, according to a recent analysis from the Tax Foundation. And jurisdictions that didn’t roll back millage rates effectively imposed unlegislated tax hikes.

One-off rebates or state backfills also blur accountability, dull the incentive for local officials to right-size rates, and even nudge overall taxes higher over time.

Put more simply: band-aid now, bigger bill later.

Economists also flag an efficiency risk. However unpopular, the property tax is relatively pro-growth compared with swapping in higher income or sales taxes. Shifting the burden away from property and onto less efficient taxes can drag on economic growth at a time when the government shutdown is hitting Florida's economy hard.

Finally, there’s the local government reality. Property taxes fund the backbone of community services: schools, police and fire, roads, emergency response. Even if the state picks up the rebate bill, critics worry it could sap momentum for deeper reforms or crowd out investments communities need to stay livable.

Could this be the first step toward ending property taxes?

The push to end property taxes is a perplexing one—wildly popular with voters in theory, yet far less convincing when it comes to the practical details of how to replace the lost revenue.

One-third of Florida voters want to eliminate property taxes outright, while 39% believe they should be limited but remain a valid source of revenue, according to a recent poll. Yet, nearly half (45%) said they’d be more likely to support a candidate who campaigns on full elimination, compared with only 18% who’d be less likely.

That level of voter enthusiasm combined with the very real financial hardships of Florida homeowners helps explain why the issue keeps surfacing. But it also underlines an awareness of the steep risk eliminating the tax entirely carries. House Bill 71 may offer a middle ground, but even in the best-case scenario, the earliest rebates wouldn’t reach homeowners until late 2026.

For millions of Floridians, that $1,000 check could offer a brief sigh of relief—if it ever arrives.