St. Johns County commissioners voted 3 to 2 on Tuesday, August 18, to put a $100 million land conservation bond on the November 3 general election ballot. Chair Clay Murphy and Commissioners Krista Joseph and Ann Taylor voted to send it to voters. Commissioners Sarah Arnold and Christian Whitehurst voted against, citing the timing against Amendment 3, a separate November question that asks voters to cut property taxes. The decision now belongs to voters.
The timing is the part worth paying attention to. The day after that vote, on August 19, the same board held a public hearing on the first six agricultural enclave applications filed under a new state law that sharply limits what the county is allowed to say about them. It certified two of them, about 1,165 acres, in back to back 3 to 2 votes, and continued the largest application, 4,462 acres north of Nocatee, to September 1 while staff confirm a boundary. One meeting was about the county trying to buy land out of the development pipeline. The next was about land the county may no longer be able to keep out of it. We covered that hearing separately in what the county certified and what it delayed.
What commissioners are actually voting on
The August 18 vote was procedural: it decided whether the referendum reaches the ballot, not whether the county borrows anything. Voters make that call on November 3. Commissioners said after the vote that they will have to move quickly to have ballot language ready in time.
The measure would authorize general obligation bonds to fund the acquisition, restoration and management of conservation land: drinking water resources, wildlife habitat, coastal areas, working farms and forests, and outdoor recreation, with flood reduction named as a goal. The bonds could be issued in one or more series rather than all at once, each maturing within 20 years of issuance, with interest capped at the legal maximum under Florida law.
What it would cost, and what it would fund
Repayment would come from a property tax levy of up to 0.15 mills. A mill is $1 per $1,000 of taxable value, so 0.15 mills is $15 per year for every $100,000 of taxable value. The Matanzas Riverkeeper puts that at roughly $3.35 per month on a home assessed at $268,394 after current exemptions.
The money would run through the county's Land Acquisition and Management Program, established by Ordinance No. 2021-38. LAMP already exists; what it does not have is money. Its current annual allocation is about $500,000, which the Riverkeeper describes as too small to move when a property actually comes available. Bonds are a way to have capital on hand at the moment a willing seller appears rather than years later.
Commissioner Ann Taylor described the mechanics plainly: any acquisition "would have to be a willing seller, and then that property would go before the lamp board." The Trust for Public Land, which helped the county develop the measure, told News4Jax its polling shows support running about five to one. Not everyone is sold. Two residents interviewed at a polling location objected to the property tax route, one saying they would rather see it funded by fees and another that their taxes are already climbing.
Why this is happening now: SB 686
SB 686 took effect July 1, 2026, creating a faster path from agricultural land to residential development. Once a property is certified under the law, the county cannot reject the development on land use, zoning or traffic grounds, and those rights run in perpetuity.
County Growth Management Director Mike Roberson did not soften it: "This is less authority. This is a removal of authority." On the entitlements themselves: "Once they achieve those rights or those entitlements, they'll get them in perpetuity."
Six properties are already in line for certification, including more than 4,000 acres near Nocatee in northern St. Johns County. Commissioners voted 5-0 to have the County Attorney's Office price out the cost and viability of an injunction against the law rather than sue immediately, and those findings are due back at the August 18 meeting. An eighth application was filed August 3. We covered the mechanics of the law in our earlier piece on the agricultural enclave filings.
Read together, the bond is the county reaching for the one tool the state did not take away. It cannot deny a certified enclave. It can try to buy land before it becomes one.
What buyers and sellers should take from it
Nothing here changes a purchase contract this month. But two things are worth tracking if you own or are buying in St. Johns County.
The first is the millage. If the bond passes in November, the levy is real money on a real tax bill, small on a per-month basis but permanent for the life of the bonds. Anyone modeling a long hold in the county should know it is on the table. Florida property tax mechanics, including how exemptions change the number the millage applies to, are covered in our St. Johns County property tax breakdown.
The second is supply. Six certified enclaves plus two more filed applications represent thousands of future homes in a county that already leads Northeast Florida on price. Whether that inventory arrives, and how fast, is a genuinely open question right now, and it is being decided in county commission chambers rather than in the market. For where St. Johns sits today against the rest of the region, see our Jacksonville housing market data hub.
We are not going to tell you how to vote on this. It is a tax question and a land use question at the same time, and reasonable people in the county are landing in different places on both.
People also ask
How much would the St. Johns County conservation bond cost homeowners?
Repayment would come from a property tax levy of up to 0.15 mills, which is $15 per year for every $100,000 of taxable value. The Matanzas Riverkeeper estimates that works out to roughly $3.35 per month on a home assessed at $268,394 after current exemptions. The bonds would mature within 20 years of each issuance, with interest capped at the Florida legal maximum, per News4Jax reporting on August 14, 2026.
What is the Land Acquisition and Management Program in St. Johns County?
LAMP is the county program created by Ordinance No. 2021-38 to identify, evaluate, acquire, restore and manage environmentally significant land. It currently receives an annual allocation of about $500,000. The proposed bond would operate inside that existing structure, so acquisitions would still follow LAMP criteria and oversight, and every purchase would require a willing seller.
When do St. Johns County voters decide on the conservation bond?
Only if commissioners place it on the ballot at their August 18, 2026 meeting. If they do, the referendum goes to voters at the November 3, 2026 general election. The referendum still needs a majority on November 3, and this article describes a vote to place it on the ballot rather than a result at the polls.
The takeaway
Two meetings, back to back, pointing in opposite directions. On August 18 St. Johns County commissioners voted 3 to 2 to let voters approve $100 million in borrowing to buy conservation land, funded by up to 0.15 mills, or $15 a year per $100,000 of taxable value. On August 19 they held a public hearing on six agricultural enclave applications they largely cannot refuse, certified two and continued the biggest one to September 1. The referendum is on the ballot, and voters settle it on November 3. Both dates are worth a calendar entry if you own land, plan to buy, or care how much of the county stays undeveloped. Facts here reflect reporting as of August 15, 2026 and are deemed reliable but not guaranteed. This is general information, not legal, tax or investment advice.
Momentum Realty. Equal Housing Opportunity.
This article was compiled with the help of automated tools from published news reporting and public records, and may contain errors. Information is deemed reliable but not guaranteed. It is for general information only and is not financial, investment, legal, or tax advice. Verify all facts independently before relying on them. Updated August 26, 2026: the August 18 bond vote and the August 19 enclave hearing have both taken place and the outcomes above replace the scheduled-vote language this article carried when it was written. The continued 4,462 acre application is set for 9 a.m. on September 1, 2026 and had not been decided as of this update; confirm all outcomes with St. Johns County before relying on them. Sources: News4Jax (WJXT), "St. Johns County could ask voters to decide on $100M conservation bond this fall," August 14, 2026; Jax Daily Record, August 4 and August 6, 2026; Florida Senate Bill 686 (2026).