Polk County Officials Explain Amendment 3 on Property Taxes at Town Hall

Haines City, Fla. Monday evening, Haines City Mayor Vernel Smith opened the doors of the commission chambers to residents with one clear message: We aren’t telling you how to vote, we are just here to share the facts.

What followed was more than an hour of detailed information from three of Polk County’s most authoritative voices on property taxes, putting a very local face on a statewide debate that will land on every Florida voter’s ballot on November 3.

The Citrus Tea News was present and reporting.

What Amendment 3, “Save Our Homes From Excessive Property Taxes,” Would Do

Amendment 3 would increase the homestead exemption for non-school property taxes from the current $50,000 to $150,000 in 2027 and $250,000 in 2028. After 2028, the exemption would adjust annually with inflation.

The panel was direct about several points that have caused widespread confusion in public discussion around property tax exemptions and how they will affect the county as a whole with Property Appraiser Tables for 2027 and 2028 budget impacts for county services and each municipality.

One thing however was very clear: property taxes will not be completely eliminated, even if a home’s property value falls under the $250,000 exemption. School board taxes, which represent a significant portion of most homeowners’ bills, are not affected.

The amendment does not eliminate Save Our Homes, the 3 percent annual assessment cap that currently protects existing homeowners from runaway increases in their taxable value.

Special assessments such as stormwater fees, fire assessments, and solid waste charges are not touched by the exemption. For many Polk County homeowners, especially seniors, these non-ad valorem fees represent a significant portion of their total bill.

What the amendment does change for non-homestead properties, including rental properties, second homes, and commercial real estate, is the annual assessment growth cap, reducing it from 10 percent to 5 percent.

The Five-Year Rule

One of the most significant points of the evening involved new homeowners. The amendment includes a provision that affects people who have not yet established permanent residency in Florida. Panelists acknowledged during the presentation that a specific question about how the five-year rule interacted with homestead portability remained unresolved at the time of the town hall.

We followed up with questions to Property Appraiser Combee. See his response in our follow-up article to be published tomorrow for the full clarification.

The Polk County Numbers

Combee put specific figures on the table, drawn from the June 1, 2026 homestead parcel count and calculated using 2025 certified millage rates. He was careful to note that these are estimates based on current conditions and that actual figures would depend on 2026 millage rates, which have not yet been certified by any taxing authority. Final millage rates will be set in September 2026.

Based on those figures, Amendment 3 would mean a projected revenue loss of $98 million per year for the Polk County Board of County Commissioners at the $150,000 exemption level. At the $250,000 level, that figure rises to approximately $133 million.

Those numbers cover only the county commission. When you add every other taxing authority in Polk County, including special districts, water management districts, municipalities, and transit, the total countywide impact across all taxing authorities is well above $150 million annually in year one and exceeds $200 million in year two.

Editor's note: The following presentation and data tables were prepared by the Polk County Property Appraiser's office and distributed to media on July 14, 2026. All revenue loss figures are estimates based on June 1, 2026 homestead parcel counts and 2025 certified millage rates. Reproduced here in its entirety as a public resource for Polk County residents.
Source: Neil Combee, Polk County Property Appraiser. polkflpa.gov.

For Haines City specifically, the projected loss is $7,075,057 at the first phase, rising to $10,345,439 at the second phase. Among Polk County municipalities, Lakeland faces the largest projected loss at $9,313,994 in year one, followed by Winter Haven at $7,691,294, with Haines City ranked third. The smallest municipality, the Town of Hillcrest Heights, with just 68 homestead properties stands to lose the least at an estimated $4,000.

Tedder walked the room through what those numbers mean in practice for everyday services. The Board of County Commissioners distributes roughly $500 million in property tax revenue annually. Approximately $350 million of that goes directly to first responders, including the sheriff, ambulance, and fire services. That leaves roughly $150 million for all other general services such as parks, libraries, roads, and cultural programs. A loss of $130 million at the county level would reduce that discretionary pool to approximately $20 to $30 million.

“If you made $150,000 a year and tomorrow you made $30,000 a year, there are certain things you would not do,” Tedder told the room.

He added that he had not yet decided how he would vote. Tedder’s own operating budget is directly tied to property tax revenue. His office receives a 2 percent commission on property taxes collected, which is what funds driver’s license services, tag renewals, title transfers, and every other service his office provides to Polk County residents. If ad valorem revenue drops significantly, that commission drops with it, as well as the staff to cover those services.

The Haines City Picture

DeJesus walked residents through the city’s budget transparency portal, publicly available at HainesCity.com, showing exactly where the city spends its money. Haines City’s general fund budget for 2026 is $76 million, of which $28 million comes from ad valorem taxes. At the $150,000 exemption level the city projects losing $7 million of that, roughly 25 percent of its ad valorem tax base. You can view the full presentation below.

Editor's note: The following presentation was prepared and delivered by the City of Haines City at the community town hall on Amendment 3, Monday, July 13, 2026, at City Hall Commission Chambers. It is reproduced here in its entirety as a public resource for Polk County residents. Source: City of Haines City. Town Hall on Property Taxes, City Services and Local Impact, July 13, 2026.

Public safety accounts for 41.3 percent of the general fund, with the police department at $13 million and fire rescue at $9.7 million. Together those two departments total nearly the entire projected post-loss ad valorem revenue, leaving almost nothing for everything else the city funds.

DeJesus noted the city does have a non-ad valorem fire assessment generating about $5 million annually, which provides some offset. The city’s millage rate currently sits at 7.3395, with a state cap of 10, meaning the commission retains some capacity to raise rates if it chose to, though doing so would shift the tax burden to commercial properties and non-homestead owners.

The city also has major capital projects underway, including a $20 million City Hall Annex, a $35 million sports complex at Laury Parish Park, and a $64.5 million wastewater treatment plant expansion. The fire and Emergency Operations Center building, also at $20 million, was recently completed.

What Residents Asked

One resident argued that non-homestead tax revenues have been growing year over year and that adjustments could cover the shortfall. Tedder acknowledged the point but pushed back on the math, noting that the amendment also caps non-homestead assessment growth from 10 percent to 5 percent, limiting how much that revenue base can grow going forward. New construction, he said, brings new people who require new services, and that growth rarely pays for itself on a per-household basis.

A longtime Polk County resident worried about quality of life, naming festivals, cultural events, performing arts, parks, recreation programs, and the community celebrations that define Polk County as services most at risk if discretionary budgets are cut.

Another resident raised a question about equity. Saving money on a mortgage payment is great for homeowners, she said, but if cities have to raise fees to compensate for the loss to cover budgets like parks and recreation, renters and working families who moved to Polk County seeking affordability would absorb those costs without receiving any homestead benefit.

Mayor Smith closed the evening by encouraging residents to continue researching through the property appraiser’s website at polkflpa.gov, the tax collector’s website at polktaxes.com, and the city’s budget transparency portal through HainesCity.com. For information on other municipalities, check local city government websites.

The Citrus Tea News will follow this story closely as we move toward the general election in November.

Key Voting Dates

November 3, 2026 is the general election date. Amendment 3 requires 60 percent statewide voter approval to pass. The result is decided at the state level, not county by county.

Early voting for the general election runs October 19 through October 31. The vote-by-mail request deadline is October 22. The voter registration deadline for the general election is October 5.

To register to vote or check your registration status, visit the Polk County Supervisor of Elections at polkelections.com.

Disclaimer: The Citrus Tea News is not here to tell you how to vote. We bring you the information so you can make your own informed decisions.

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Sources: Town hall meeting, Haines City Commission Chambers, July 13, 2026. Panelists: Neil Combee, Polk County Property Appraiser; Joe G. Tedder, Polk County Tax Collector; Omar DeJesus, Haines City Finance Director; Mayor Vernel Smith; staff representative from the Office of Polk County Supervisor of Elections Melony Bell. Revenue figures from Polk County Property Appraiser data based on June 1, 2026 homestead parcel counts and 2025 certified millage rates. All figures are estimates. Actual results would depend on 2026 certified millage rates, which will be set in September 2026. Power point slides from Town Hall included in their entirety.