HERNANDO COUNTY – Hernando County would lose $36.9 million in the first year if voters approve the state’s property tax referendum, and the city of Brooksville would lose $757,453, according to a report on the measure’s local impact.
The losses would deepen quickly. By the 2028-29 fiscal year, Brooksville’s shortfall would approach $1.3 million. By 2031-32, Hernando would be down $73.6 million a year and Brooksville more than $1.5 million.
The proposed constitutional amendment would raise the homestead exemption on primary residences from $50,000 to $150,000 in 2027 and to $250,000 in 2028, and would cut the annual cap on assessment increases for non-homesteaded property from 10% to 5%. Homeowners would continue to pay the portion of their property taxes that funds schools. The measure needs approval from 60% of voters to pass.
Statewide, local governments could lose as much as $12 billion by 2031, according to a July report by the Revenue Estimating Conference, a nonpartisan state panel, the Tampa Bay Times reported.
Elected officials in Hernando County and Brooksville have been watching spending plans closely in anticipation, rejecting proposals they see as wants rather than needs.
Brooksville officials are working with the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office on a plan to end the city’s payment to the agency for extra coverage inside city limits. At the County Commission, studies and other spending items have been rejected or delayed, in some cases after money already had been spent on them.
Both governments also face the annual budget process, which is typically contentious as constitutional officers make their cases for more money. The school district’s budget is up for review and approval as well.
Taxpayers’ champion
County Commissioner Steve Champion has been the referendum’s most vocal local supporter, arguing at nearly every meeting that property taxes amount to theft and that homeowners should not have to pay what he calls rent to keep property they already own.
He has pressed county staff hard on spending requests, insisting the county could negotiate better deals with contractors, particularly on air conditioning repairs and replacements and on new fire stations.
Fire Rescue and the Sheriff’s Office appear unlikely to be hit hard if commissioners have to swing the budget ax. Services such as parks and libraries could see deeper cuts and reduced hours or programs.
If the county has to cut, Champion has said, so be it. The county made deep cuts before and survived, he said at a recent meeting.
School taxes would not be affected by the amendment, though Champion and Commissioner John Allocco have been critical of Hernando County School District spending.
Gov. Ron DeSantis, speaking recently at Pasco-Hernando State College, dismissed warnings about the measure, saying critics predicted the sky would fall when the homestead exemption was raised in the past.
Champion said the surveys he has seen indicate the referendum will pass. Polling suggests the outcome may depend on how the question is framed. In a University of North Florida survey of 848 likely midterm voters released in July, 61% backed the amendment and 32% opposed it when it was described as requiring local governments to spend property tax dollars only on core services, the Times reported. When respondents were told it would leave local governments $11.8 billion short, support fell to 45%, with 47% opposed.
Material from the Tampa Bay Times was used in this report.
Tampa Bay Times story: https://www.tampabay.com/news/2026/07/22/property-tax-amendment-desantis-local-government-impacts/