Top Stories and Alerts

Heads Up: Property Tax Reform FAQs

Updated 2/11/26

Tax Reform Talks Heat Up in Tallahassee - What Could It Mean for Coconut Creek?

State leaders are discussing significant changes to property taxes, and those decisions could have direct effects on daily life in Coconut Creek. This page outlines where your tax dollars are spent currently, what is being considered, and what the potential outcomes could be for residents, businesses, and the community as a whole.

Why Property Taxes Matter?

Property taxes are one of the primary ways cities fund the essential services people rely on every day. In Coconut Creek, these property taxes support:

Police, fire, and emergency response
Citywide maintenance and code compliance
Roads, water, sewer, garbage collection, sidewalks, parks, and playgrounds
Recreation programs, fitness facilities, and citywide events
Long-term planning, growth management, and infrastructure replacement

When property taxes decline, but the cost of providing these services continues to rise, cities must find other ways to maintain operations and keep up with infrastructure needs. Without stable revenue, the result is fewer resources for current services, reduced ability to plan for future demands, and limited ability to expand or improve services.

Who Would Benefit from the Proposed Tax Changes?

Several of the proposals being discussed focus primarily on homesteaded properties—homes that owners occupy as their primary residence. These properties already benefit from exemptions and caps on annual assessment increases. Key considerations include:

If property taxes were fully eliminated for homesteaded properties, Coconut Creek would lose an estimated $15.8 million each year.
Homesteaded property owners might see tax savings, but cities would still need to fund essential services, which could result in higher service fees or assessments for everyone.
When a major revenue source is reduced for one group, the cost can shift to others—such as businesses and rental properties—usually through increased rents and prices.

What Happens If Property Taxes Are Reduced or Eliminated?

The cost of running a city does not disappear when a funding source is reduced. Instead, the pressure shifts. Possible results include:

Increased fees or special assessments
Reduced service levels
Delayed repairs, maintenance, or upgrades
Slower response to emergencies or storms
Postponed investments in long-term infrastructure

In everyday terms, residents may experience changes in:

City maintenance and overall appearance
Road and infrastructure repairs and improvements
Hurricane and emergency preparedness and response
Park and facility upkeep
Recreation programs, events, and community activities
Planning for future growth and replacement of aging infrastructure

How would this proposal affect seasonal residents (“snowbirds”) who own a home or condo but do not receive a homestead exemption because the property is not their primary residence?

Most tax relief ideas being discussed are aimed at primary residences with a homestead exemption. Properties that are not homesteaded would likely continue paying property taxes much as they do today, and although some proposals discuss changes to assessment limits for non-homesteaded properties, they would likely see fewer benefits.

Is it true that one proposal may change property taxes from being billed annually to being billed every three years? If that were to happen, would homeowners and condo owners receive a single bill covering three years of taxes, or would taxes still be calculated and paid annually but on a different schedule?

There are currently no proposals to send one combined tax bill covering three years. Homeowners would still receive a property tax bill every year. The referencing proposal, HJR 213, discusses changing how often a home's taxable value may increase, not how often taxes are billed. Currently, taxable value for homesteaded properties can rise by up to 3% each year. The proposal would limit the increase to no more than 3% (or inflation, whichever is lower) total over a three-year period, which could slow the growth of a property’s taxable value and potentially future tax bills.

Here is a simplified example for illustration purposes only.
Year 1	Year 2	Year 3
Starting Point Estimated Bill: $400	Taxable value would likely remain about the same because increases could occur once every three years. Estimated Bill: About $400	Taxable value could increase – but only up to 3% total over a three-year period. Estimated Bill: About $412

In this example, you would not receive a $1,200 bill in year three — taxes would continue to be billed annually.

If Florida moves forward with eliminating or significantly reducing property taxes, what guardrails or replacement mechanisms are being discussed to ensure cities can continue funding core services like police, fire, and infrastructure without shifting the burden to higher sales taxes, fees, or rent increases that impact homeowners, renters, and small businesses differently? And specifically for cities like Coconut Creek and Coral Springs, how do we preserve local control and financial stability if revenue becomes more dependent on state funding or economically volatile sources?

Guardrails or replacement funding mechanisms have not been specified in the property tax proposals currently under discussion. Further, implementation language detailing how cities would replace lost property tax revenue or how core services such as police, fire, and infrastructure would be sustainably funded has not been provided. Based on the information available, it remains uncertain how local control and long-term financial stability would be maintained if cities were to become more reliant on economically volatile revenue sources.

If the removal of property taxes becomes effective. Will cities have to go to a fee based system (with no caps, like they have for homestead)?

In addition to cost containment efforts, the City may evaluate other revenue sources, which could result in a greater reliance on a fee-based system. Currently, some user fees do not fully cover the cost of providing services, as those costs are partially supported by property tax revenue. If that support is reduced, fees may be reviewed to better align with the cost of service, where authorized. Depending on the reforms adopted and any limitations included in final legislation, residents could see changes in certain fees.

What are the alternate incremental measures we can employ to both cut wasteful spending and maintain vital services while still increasing affordability?Doubling the sales tax hurts affordability just as much as crushing real estate taxes. We need to make smaller incremental changes that benefit ALL taxpayers rather than ripping off the band-aid and hoping the ripple effect doesn't send us into a financial tailspin.

There are incremental measures that local governments may consider to address affordability while continuing to fund essential services. These measures can include targeted cost containment and efficiency initiatives, such as streamlining operations, leveraging technology and automation, consolidating contracts, and prioritizing funding for core services while reviewing competing demands on resources. Cities may also evaluate phased or modest adjustments, where authorized, including gradual fee updates tied to the cost of providing services, rather than implementing sudden or across-the-board changes. Taken together, these approaches focus on measured, data-driven actions intended to support financial stability, maintain service levels, and distribute impacts more evenly across taxpayers.

A Community Conversation

Tax policy is complex, and the impacts can reach far beyond a single line on a bill. While tax reductions may appear straightforward, the effects often show up in the services and amenities residents use every day. Our goal is to provide clear, factual information so you can understand what is being discussed and how it may affect Coconut Creek.

As proposals develop in Tallahassee, we will continue updating this page with accurate, easy-to-follow information and resources.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Turnpike and Sawgrass

There are several projects under design that all relate to Florida’s Turnpike, the Sawgrass Expressway, and the interchange of the two roads.

These projects are broken into several different projects, but all have concerning impacts on the City of Coconut Creek. With regard to Turnpike, the project study for the mainline Turnpike is nearing completion and the City's concerns have not been addressed. The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) and Florida’s Turnpike Enterprise, held Public Hearings for the Turnpike expansion project for the section from Atlantic to Wiles Road. Staff attended to voice the City’s concerns, and many residents were also in attendance.The project website, Turnpike595toWiles.com has transcripts for the hearings.

The City has major concerns that we have submitted to the Turnpike regarding the mainline Turnpike project. Our concerns include: the Turnpike’s insistence that the road project needs to shift to the west- negatively impacting the South Creek area; the need for ten lanes when traffic volumes only warrant an 8-lane cross-section; the placement and height of the noise walls; and non-receipt of the amended plans from the Turnpike. The City has tried to seek commitments from the Turnpike related to these important issues, to no avail, so the City filed a lawsuit in Circuit Court in August, 2025.Please continue to stay involved and share your concerns as we continue to challenge the expansion and develop a plan of action.

The City also has significant concerns regarding the Sawgrass expansion project due to its close proximity to several Coconut Creek neighborhoods and the potential for increased noise, vibration, and environmental impacts on those communities. View the project website for more information.

People wishing to submit written or verbal comments/questions please contact the project manager, Jazlyn Heywood, P.E., via email at Jazlyn.Heywood@dot.state.fl.us or by phone at (407) 264-3298.