If your 2026 Florida property tax bill looks wrong, you are not alone. On October 26, 2026, WKMG reported a ConsumerAffairs study of U.S. Census data that ranks the Jacksonville metro No. 2 of the 100 largest U.S. metros for property taxes rising faster than home values: median taxes paid rose 21.7% from 2022 to 2024 while median home values rose 8.1%. Lakeland-Winter Haven ranked No. 1, with taxes up 28.1% against values up 14.2% (WFTV, October 15, 2026). Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville ranked No. 6, Cape Coral-Fort Myers No. 11 and North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota No. 14.
Those are metro-wide medians, and they mix longtime owners with recent buyers, so they are not a prediction of your bill. But the pattern behind them is real and it has a name. Florida property appraisers call it recapture. This article explains how it works in plain numbers, how long it lasts, and what our own county data says about where the climb has the most runway left.
The three numbers on your TRIM notice
Every Florida property has three values on the notice the property appraiser mails in August, called the TRIM notice:
- Market value (also called just value): the appraiser's estimate of what the property was worth on January 1.
- Assessed value: market value, limited by any assessment cap that applies to the property.
- Taxable value: assessed value minus exemptions, such as the homestead exemption.
Your tax is taxable value times the millage rates set by each taxing authority (county, city, school board and special districts). One mill is $1 per $1,000 of taxable value. So a bill can rise for two separate reasons: the taxable value went up, or a millage rate went up. Recapture is about the first one.
How the Save Our Homes cap creates recapture
Once a home has a homestead exemption, the Save Our Homes amendment limits how fast its assessed value can rise: by 3% a year or by the change in the Consumer Price Index, whichever is lower. The Martin County Property Appraiser's Save Our Homes 2026 notice puts that figure at 2.7% for 2026. Homes without a homestead exemption have a separate 10% cap, and that one applies only to non-school levies. School taxes on non-homestead property follow full market value.
From 2020 to 2022, Florida home values rose far faster than 3% a year. The cap held assessments back, so a gap opened between what a home was worth and what it was assessed at. The law then works in one direction: as long as assessed value is below market value, assessed value must go up each year by the cap, or by the remaining gap if that is smaller. It keeps doing so in years when market value is flat or falls. That catch-up is recapture.
The St. Johns County Property Appraiser's office put it directly in an article updated October 6, 2026: even when market value stays the same or decreases, the assessed value will still increase. In Pinellas, the St Pete Catalyst (September 3, 2026) walked through a property whose market value fell from $215,319 in 2025 to $171,917 in 2026, more than 20%, while its capped assessed value rose from $64,423 to $70,865. The owner's value fell by a fifth, and the taxable base still went up.
Recapture is not an error, and it does not mean the cap failed. The cap is still doing its job: your assessment stays at or below market value. It just keeps climbing toward market value until the two meet.
A worked example
Take a homesteaded Duval County house with a market value of $400,000 and an assessed value of $300,000, a 25% gap, which is common for owners who bought before 2021. Duval's county-typical total millage in our data is 17.865 mills.
- The market value is flat for 2026. The assessed value still rises 2.7%, from $300,000 to $308,100.
- Because the homestead exemptions are fixed dollar amounts, the whole $8,100 increase is taxable. At 17.865 mills that adds about $145 to the bill, before any millage change.
- The next year, if values stay flat, the assessed value rises another 2.7%, and so on. It takes about 11 years of 2.7% steps for $300,000 to reach $400,000 at a flat market.
Now the other side: a buyer who purchased the house next door last year for $400,000. Their assessment reset to about the purchase price on the following January 1, so there is no gap and no recapture. If values are flat, their assessed value stays flat too. Two neighbors with similar homes can see their bills move in opposite directions in the same year, and both bills can be correct. (Our property tax after purchase calculator now shows a five-year projection of exactly this, including a scenario where values rise, then go flat, then fall.)
What our county data shows: the gap is still wide
To see how much runway recapture has left, we used Momentum Realty's analysis of the Florida Department of Revenue certified tax roll for 2025 (prepared August 28, 2026). For every qualifying parcel we compared market value with assessed (non-school) value, and took the median gap per county. We paired that with the change in Zillow's typical home value for each county from the 2024 average to September 2026, from our Florida housing tracker.
| County | Typical home value, Sep 2026 vs 2024 avg | Median gap, market vs assessed (2025 roll) | Years of 2.7% steps to close the gap if values stay flat | Tax added by one 2.7% step at the median assessment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Duval | −6.1% | 18.8% | 7.8 | $93 |
| St. Johns | −5.7% | 16.8% | 6.9 | $114 |
| Clay | −3.8% | 25.8% | 11.2 | $82 |
| Nassau | −1.4% | 27.4% | 12.0 | $93 |
| Polk | −7.5% | 14.0% | 5.7 | $79 |
| Brevard | −6.2% | 22.3% | 9.5 | $85 |
| Volusia | −6.6% | 22.7% | 9.7 | $105 |
| Orange | −6.0% | 22.3% | 9.5 | $114 |
| Seminole | −5.8% | 26.5% | 11.6 | $100 |
| Osceola | −8.3% | 8.5% | 3.3 | $103 |
| Hillsborough | −7.4% | 22.9% | 9.8 | $94 |
| Pinellas | −10.6% | 27.1% | 11.9 | $110 |
| Pasco | −8.9% | 23.7% | 10.2 | $83 |
| Manatee | −11.9% | 9.4% | 3.7 | $123 |
| Sarasota | −14.0% | 6.8% | 2.6 | $97 |
| Charlotte | −18.1% | 9.6% | 3.8 | $96 |
| Lee | −15.9% | 11.7% | 4.7 | $103 |
| Collier | −11.6% | 15.0% | 6.1 | $108 |
| Palm Beach | −5.2% | 25.7% | 11.2 | $136 |
| Broward | −7.0% | 26.9% | 11.8 | $138 |
| Miami-Dade | −2.8% | 23.6% | 10.1 | $135 |
Three things stand out.
Values fell in every one of these 21 counties, and the gaps are still large. Typical home values are below their 2024 average everywhere in the table, from −1.4% in Nassau to −15.9% in Lee and −18.1% in Charlotte. Yet the median parcel still sits 6.8% (Sarasota) to 27.4% (Nassau) below market value on the roll. Wherever that gap exists, the cap keeps pushing assessed values up.
Northeast Florida has years of runway. Duval's median gap is 18.8%, about 7.8 years of 2.7% steps at a flat market. Clay (25.8%, about 11.2 years) and Nassau (27.4%, about 12.0 years) are wider. St. Johns is 16.8% (about 6.9 years). That is consistent with Jacksonville's ranking in the ConsumerAffairs study.
The dollar step is modest each year, but it compounds. At each county's median assessed value and typical millage, one 2.7% step adds roughly $79 to $138 a year to a homestead bill, before millage changes. That sounds small, but it repeats every year until the gap closes, and it lands at the same time as insurance and escrow changes. On a higher-value home the step is proportionally larger.
A few cautions. The gap is a median across all qualifying parcels, so it mixes homesteads (2.7% cap) with non-homestead property (10% cap on non-school levies), and it uses county-typical millage, which varies by city and special district. Several counties' millage figures are estimates rather than verified rates in our file. Treat the table as a county-level picture, not a quote for any property.
Recapture or a millage increase? How to tell
Your TRIM notice and your tax bill let you separate the two causes in a few minutes:
- Compare assessed value this year and last year. If it rose by about 2.7% while market value was flat or lower, that part of the increase is recapture.
- Compare each taxing authority's millage. The TRIM notice shows last year's rate, this year's rate and the rollback rate, the rate that would have raised the same revenue as last year. A rate above rollback is a tax increase by the taxing authority, even if the millage number did not change. Our rollback rate explainer walks through the columns.
- Check non-ad valorem assessments. Lines such as solid waste, stormwater or a Community Development District (CDD) are billed separately from millage and can rise on their own.
- Check exemptions. A missing homestead, senior or veteran exemption changes taxable value. If one dropped off, call the property appraiser now.
Can you appeal recapture?
Not directly. Recapture is set by law, so there is nothing for a value adjustment board to correct if the cap was applied properly. What you can challenge is the market value the appraiser assigned. That helps only when your market value is close to, or below, your assessed value: if the board lowers market value to a number that is still above your capped assessment, your assessed value and your bill do not change.
The petition window runs 25 days from the date the TRIM notice is mailed, which for the 2026 roll was in August in most counties. Our appeal deadlines by county page lists the dates, and the property tax appeal guide covers the process for next year.
What to do before the November bill
- Budget for the step. If your market value is well above your assessed value, plan on the assessment rising by the cap again next year, even if prices keep easing.
- Expect an escrow review. Bills mailed in November feed your lender's next escrow analysis. Our article on why Florida escrow payments go up and the escrow shortage calculator show how a tax increase turns into a payment change.
- Use the early-payment discount. Under section 197.162, Florida Statutes, paying in November earns a 4% discount, falling to 3% in December, 2% in January and 1% in February. Taxes are due by March 31. Details by county are in when Florida property taxes are due.
- Moving within Florida? Your Save Our Homes benefit, the gap between market and assessed value, can move with you, up to $500,000. Run the portability calculator before you buy.
- Estimate your own bill. The Save Our Homes tax estimator models your homestead, and the non-homestead cap calculator covers rentals and second homes. County-by-county rates are in Florida property taxes by county, including Duval.
Where Amendment 3 fits
Amendment 3 is on the November 3, 2026 ballot and would change property tax exemptions and caps for future years. It does not change the bill arriving this November, which is based on the 2026 roll and the millage rates adopted in September. Our Amendment 3 tracker follows the vote and what it would mean for 2027 bills.
Frequently asked questions
Why did my property taxes go up when my home value went down in Florida?
Most often because of recapture. Florida's Save Our Homes cap lets a homestead's assessed value rise by up to 3% a year, or the change in the Consumer Price Index if lower (2.7% for 2026). When values rose faster than that in past years, a gap opened between market value and assessed value. Until that gap closes, the assessed value keeps rising by the cap each year, even when market value is flat or falling.
What is the recapture rule in Florida?
Recapture is the part of the Save Our Homes law that requires a capped assessed value to increase each year by the cap, or by the full difference if smaller, until it equals market value. County property appraisers in St. Johns and Pinellas describe it the same way: the assessed value can rise even when the market value stays the same or decreases.
What is the Save Our Homes cap for 2026?
2.7%. The cap is the lower of 3% or the change in the Consumer Price Index, and the Martin County Property Appraiser's Save Our Homes 2026 notice states that the CPI figure for 2026 is 2.7%. Non-homestead property has a separate 10% cap that applies to non-school levies only.
Can I appeal recapture on my Florida property tax bill?
Recapture itself is set by law, so it is not something a value appeal can remove. You can challenge the market (just) value the appraiser assigned, but lowering it only cuts your assessment if the new market value falls below your capped assessed value. The appeal window for each year runs 25 days from the TRIM notice mailing, so check your county's deadline before the next TRIM season.
How long will my Florida property taxes keep going up from recapture?
Until your assessed value catches up with market value. If market value stays flat, each year closes the gap by the cap. In our analysis of the 2025 certified tax roll, the median gap in Duval County was 18.8%, which would take about 7.8 years of 2.7% steps to close if values did not change. Rising values extend that; falling values shorten it.
Does Amendment 3 change the tax bill arriving in November 2026?
No. The bills mailed in November 2026 are based on the 2026 tax roll and the millage rates local governments adopted in September. Amendment 3 is on the November 3, 2026 ballot, and any change it makes would apply to later tax years.
The takeaway
A Florida tax bill that rises in a year when home values fell is usually the Save Our Homes cap doing what the law tells it to do: walking a capped assessment up toward market value, 2.7% at a time for 2026, until the gap from the 2020 to 2022 run-up is gone. Our county data shows that gap is still 6.8% to 27.4% at the median across the counties we checked, so expect recapture to keep showing up on bills for years, even if prices keep easing. Check your assessed value, your millage and your exemptions separately, and you will know exactly which part of the increase is which.
Sources
- Momentum Realty analysis of the Florida Department of Revenue 2025 certified tax roll: median gap between just (market) value and assessed non-school value by county; parcels under $50,000 market value, assessed above market, or with an assessed-to-market ratio under 0.15 excluded; county-typical FY2025-26 millage from our millage file (prepared August 28, 2026). Aggregates only. Deemed reliable but not guaranteed.
- Momentum Realty Florida housing tracker, release 2026-10 (published October 19, 2026), county typical home values from Zillow Research data through September 2026.
- WKMG News 6 ClickOrlando, report on the ConsumerAffairs study "Where Property Taxes Are Rising Faster Than Home Values (2026)," October 26, 2026: clickorlando.com
- WFTV, Lakeland-Winter Haven and Jacksonville rankings from the same study, October 15, 2026: wftv.com
- ConsumerAffairs, "Where Property Taxes Are Rising Faster Than Home Values," U.S. Census Bureau ACS one-year estimates, 2022 to 2024 (updated October 14, 2026): consumeraffairs.com
- Martin County Property Appraiser, "SOH 2026" (Save Our Homes cap of 2.7% for 2026), read October 26, 2026: pamartinfl.gov
- St. Johns County Property Appraiser, "My property's just (market) value has stayed the same or decreased. Why did my property taxes increase?", published August 1, 2026, updated October 6, 2026: sjcpa.gov
- St Pete Catalyst, "TRIM notices: Did your taxes rise but your home value fall?", September 3, 2026: stpetecatalyst.com
- Section 197.162, Florida Statutes (discounts for early payment of property taxes).
How this article was prepared: county figures are medians from our analysis of the 2025 certified tax roll and county typical home values from our housing tracker; "years to close the gap" assumes flat market values and a 2.7% cap every year, which is a simplification because the cap is reset each year by CPI. Tax-step dollars use each county's median assessed value and county-typical millage, which differs by city and special district. Nothing here is a valuation of any property, a tax quote, or legal or tax advice. Figures are deemed reliable but not guaranteed.