Seminole County’s potential impact from property tax reform: $188M over two years

If a proposed state property tax reform amendment were the law today, it would cut up to $119 million from the Seminole County budget.

With that in mind, the Seminole County Commission started its budget process Tuesday with a big “what-if?” Last week, the Florida Legislature approved adding a measure to the ballot this November that, if 60% of voters approve, would increase property tax exemptions from $25,000 to $250,000 over two years. Property taxes are a significant source of revenue for county and local governments in Florida.

It would also bar new residents from getting the tax break until they live in Florida for five years, and would limit how much the assessed value of commercial and non-homesteaded properties can increase annually.

Seminole County Property Appraiser David Johnson told commissioners Tuesday that if the amendment was in place today at its full effect it would cut about $118.6 million from the county budget. That includes $84.8 million to the general fund, $32.9 million to the fire fund and about $1 million for roads. 

Looking further out, it could be a 15% to 17% budget cut in 2027, and a 26% to 30% cut in 2028. If Seminole County’s property values were kept flat – the value usually goes up about 5% per year – it would be a $188 million cut over two years. That’s the “worst-case scenario,” Johnson said. 

“This does not impact school taxes,” Johnson said. “The bumper sticker that’s out there that you’re not gonna pay property taxes on your homestead is just false. Because you’re going to continue to pay property taxes for school taxes.”

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School taxes make up about 40% of the typical homeowner’s property tax bill in Seminole County. Johnson said the governor’s sales tax savings calculator is misleading because it doesn’t include the school taxes. 

“That calculator that’s currently out there is wrong,” Johnson said. “To have out there in the public domain that says I’m gonna punch in my address, my taxable value is $250,000, it shows zero – it’s just not right. It’s totally inappropriate.”

Johnson said the median sales price for a home in Seminole County is currently $450,000. He told commissioners he expects a lawsuit on the ballot language, as well as a possible lawsuit on whether it would be constitutional to require homeowners to live in the state for five years before getting the increased exemption. 

County Chair Andria Herr said the proposal will not technically affect the upcoming 2026-27 budget. But Herr said they need to consider its possible impacts. 

“Quite frankly, there will be factions … with regard to this potential law that are stating it as the best thing since sliced bread and stating it as though the sky is falling,” Herr said. “And neither of those are probably true. In reality, somewhere in the middle is the truth.”

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County also approves seeking grants for Scout, moving utilities 

One resident asked Seminole County to consider holding off on buying a new property in Winter Springs to house the county’s utilities department. Separate from the budget, the Seminole County Commission on Tuesday had approved authorizing the county to spend $3.7 million to buy the 12,000-square-foot building at 1016 Spring Villas Point in Winter Springs. 

County Commissioner Bob Dallari asked about possibly moving the utilities offices into the planned Five Points government complex instead. 

“It was never intended for utilities to move into our new county administration building,” County Administrator Darren Gray said. 

County Commissioner Jay Zembower said it was a health and safety issue for employees. 

“The building they’re currently in is not safe,” Zembower said. “There’s black mold [that’s] been discovered. The owner of that facility has not moved forward to remediate that. We have a safety issue for folks currently there.”

Seminole County also moved forward with plans to seek a $1.5 million grant from Florida to help expand its Scout program. Scout is the micro-transit program the county implemented this year to replace traditional public transportation buses; the program has been plagued with long delays for some riders that the grant could alleviate. 

Seminole County also talked about adding an additional seven new Scout vehicles for the coming year. 

Abe Aboraya is a Report for America corps member