Jacksonville property tax in 2026, and what the $250,000 plan would change

Duval County runs one of the higher combined millage rates in Northeast Florida at about 17.86 mills, so a homesteaded $350,000 Jacksonville home lands near $5,518 a year. The number that catches buyers is the seller’s tax line, which sits artificially low and resets the day you close. There is now a proposal on the table that would cut the non-school part of that bill. Here is what you pay in Jacksonville today and what the $250,000 homestead exemption would do to it.

What Jacksonville homeowners actually pay.

Duval County’s 2025 total millage is about 17.86 mills, with roughly 6.34 of that funding schools and the rest covering county, city, and special-district services. On a homesteaded $350,000 home with the standard $50,000 exemption, that lands near $5,518 a year, about $460 a month, an effective rate close to 1.58 percent of the price. The figure moves with your purchase price, the city you buy in, and whether your community carries CDD millage. Our Duval County property tax calculator opens preset to Duval so you can run your own number.

The seller’s tax bill is a trap.

A long-time Jacksonville owner has years of Save Our Homes protection holding their assessed value below market, so their tax line looks low on the listing. When you take ownership, that cap resets to what you paid, and your first Duval County bill is usually higher than the seller’s. Pricing your carrying cost off the seller’s old tax is one of the most common Florida buying mistakes. The seller’s accumulated cap does not transfer to you.

What the $250,000 plan would do in Duval.

On May 27 the governor proposed raising the homestead exemption to $250,000 and called a June special session to put it on the November ballot. In Duval County the non-school portion of a homesteaded $350,000 bill would fall by about $2,304 a year, dropping it from $5,518 to $3,214, roughly $192 a month back in your pocket. School taxes of about 6.34 mills stay in place, which is why the bill does not reach zero.

The plan is a proposed constitutional amendment. It needs 60 percent of the Legislature to reach the November 2026 ballot and then 60 percent of voters to pass, and anyone who establishes Florida residency after January 1, 2027 could wait up to five years to claim the full benefit. Price your home on today’s real bill and treat the cut as upside if it arrives. The Duval County breakdown has the full picture.

What sits outside the millage.

Two costs land beyond the rate. Duval County Public Schools levies the school portion of every bill in the county. New-construction CDD communities like eTown, along with some established districts, can add CDD or special-district assessments, often $1,000 to $2,500 a year, billed separately from property tax. Cities like Jacksonville and the Beaches can carry their own millage on top of the county rate. Layer homeowners insurance and any HOA dues on top for a true monthly carrying cost.

See your own Duval number.

The estimator opens preset to Duval County. Enter your purchase price to see your year-1 bill, the 10-year Save Our Homes projection, and your estimated savings under the proposal. Compare it against the seller’s current bill to see the reset in real dollars.

Go deeper on the Duval County property tax page, see the statewide picture in the Florida property tax hub, or read how the proposal plays out across the state in the DeSantis property tax breakdown.