Thinking About “Eliminating” Property Taxes in Florida? What Buyers and Sellers Really Need to Know

Every election cycle, talk pops up about “getting rid of property taxes” or dramatically cutting them. On the surface, that sounds fantastic—who wouldn’t like a smaller tax bill?

But if you own (or plan to own) a home in Collier County or anywhere in Florida, it’s important to understand what those taxes actually pay for, and what could happen to your neighborhood, services, and even property values if they’re reduced without a solid backup plan.

Below is a plain-English look at what’s in a recent analysis prepared for Collier County, translated into what really matters for homeowners and buyers. (For the Collier County Clerk's full report, see (https://www.collierclerk.com/wp-content/uploads/2025-11-24-Underlying-Issues-Associated-with-Elimination-of-Ad-Valorem-Taxes-in-Florida.pdf)

1. Where Your Property Tax Dollar Really Goes

The graphic on page 1 of the report slices a dollar bill into segments showing how each piece of your tax bill is divided among different government entities.

Roughly speaking, for a typical property in unincorporated Collier County:

• Schools: About 41.5% of your property tax bill goes to the School District.

• Sheriff / Public Safety: Around 11.4% funds the Sheriff’s Office for law enforcement, corrections, and court bailiffs.

• Together, schools + sheriff account for about 53% of the typical tax bill.

• County government operations: About 18.1% (things like administration, courts support, parks, libraries, emergency services support).

• Fire districts: Around 15.5%, mostly independent fire districts providing 24/7/365 protection.

• The rest is spread among:

  • Local Municipal Service Taxing Units (MSTUs) for neighborhood-level services

  • Water management districts

  • Conservation Collier and Water Pollution Control (voter-approved environmental and water-quality programs)

  • Mosquito control

Here’s the key point: the current bills being discussed in Tallahassee would protect school funding and sheriff funding, but not many of the other services you probably care about.

2. How Dependent Local Services Are on Property Taxes

For Collier County’s main General Fund—the pot of money that pays for most countywide services—about 64% of the FY 2026 budget comes from property taxes.

Those dollars support:

• Parks and recreation

• Libraries

• Code enforcement and planning

• Social services and public health

• Road maintenance and stormwater work

• Emergency Medical Services (EMS) support

• Court support and other “behind the scenes” functions that keep local government running

In the unincorporated area (which is effectively the largest “city” in Collier County—over 91% of residents live there, according to the population table on page 7), property taxes fund about 74.5% of the Unincorporated Area General Fund. That fund covers services that feel very “city-like” for people living outside Naples, Marco Island, and Everglades City:

• Neighborhood parks

• Coastal & beach management

• Communications and public affairs

• Code enforcement

• Planning and zoning for growth

If you take that revenue stream away or sharply cut it, there are only three options:

1. Cut services

2. Raise other taxes/fees somewhere else

3. Borrow money and push the problem into the future

For homeowners, any of those can affect quality of life, HOA dues, or even property values over time.

3. Why Property Taxes Are So Attractive to Local Governments

From a homeowner’s point of view, property taxes are painful but predictable. From a local government’s perspective, they’re also:

a) Front-loaded cash flow

The charts on page 4 show that about 86% of Collier County’s FY 2024 General Fund property tax revenue arrived between October and December—right at the start of the fiscal year.

By contrast, the State half-cent sales tax is collected more evenly over the year. That sounds nice, but it means:

• Less cash early in the year

• Less interest income on invested balances

• A higher chance the county might need short-term borrowing (“revenue anticipation notes”) just to cover bills in the fall

b) More stable than sales tax

Property tax collections tend to come in at around 95% of what’s budgeted, even in rough years like 2009, 2020, and 2024.

Sales tax tells a different story. The table on page 5 shows the county’s half-cent sales tax revenue:

• Down 10.7% in FY 2009

• Down 8.7% in FY 2020

• Down 5.6% in FY 2024

In other words, if Florida phases out property taxes and replaces them with more sales tax, revenue becomes more volatile—especially in recessions, when people pull back on spending.

For buyers and sellers, that volatility can translate into:

• Service cuts during downturns

• Sudden increases in fees or special assessments

• Growing pressure on HOAs and CDDs to pick up the slack

4. Voter-Approved Environmental Programs Could Be at Risk

Two line items that matter a lot to Collier County’s long-term livability:

Water Pollution Control

• Authorized by countywide referenda in 1984 and 1988

• Allows up to 0.1 mill in property taxes to fund programs that prevent groundwater and surface water pollution

Conservation Collier

• Originally approved by voters in 2002 for a 0.25-mill levy over 10 years

• Reaffirmed in 2006

• Reinstated again by voters in 2020, with 76.5% voting in favor, as noted on page 7

This program buys and maintains environmentally sensitive land—think preserves, wetlands, and green space that help with:

• Flood control

• Wildlife habitat

• Clean water

• Overall “feel” of Collier County that attracts buyers in the first place

Current state proposals don’t clearly carve out protections for these voter-approved programs. That means Tallahassee could, in effect, override local decisions your neighbors already made at the ballot box.

5. What About Neighborhood-Level Services (MSTUs)?

The tables on pages 8–9 list Localized Service MSTUs—small taxing districts created because residents asked for specific upgrades such as:

• Drainage improvements

• Neighborhood beautification

• Dredging waterways

• Street lighting and sidewalks

• Community centers and localized fire protection

Examples include:

• Naples Park Drainage MSTU

• Vanderbilt Beach MSTU

• Lely Golf Estates Beautification MSTU

• Bayshore/Avalon Beautification MSTU

• Vanderbilt Waterway’s MSTU, and more

These are essentially “a la carte” services: if your neighborhood wants nicer medians, better drainage, or dredging of canals, you pay for it directly through a small property tax line item.

Under current proposals, these MSTUs are not clearly protected. If their ad valorem funding goes away, the options become:

• Drop the service

• Find a new fee or assessment

• Push the cost onto HOAs or individual property owners

For waterfront and golf-course neighborhoods especially, that could directly affect curb appeal, flooding risk, and resale value.

6. Why Buyers and Sellers Should Care

All of this may feel abstract, but it translates into very real, practical questions if you’re buying or selling a home in Florida:

For Buyers

When evaluating a property, it may soon make sense to ask:

• If property taxes are lowered here, what services might be cut?

• Are there MSTUs or special districts I’m relying on for drainage, beach access, lighting, or beautification? How would they be funded in the future?

• Could HOAs or CDDs end up raising fees or specials assessments to pick up costs the county can’t cover?

• How might changes in public services (parks, libraries, beach access, bus routes, EMS response times) affect long-term value?

For Sellers

Sellers should be ready for savvy buyers to ask:

• How does this neighborhood handle stormwater and drainage?

• Is the community dependent on any MSTU or special district that could see its funding change?

• Are there nearby conservation areas, preserves, or amenities supported by voter-approved taxes that make this location more desirable?

Being prepared with good information can help you defend your list price and reassure buyers that they’re not walking into unpleasant surprises.

7. The Bottom Line: “No Property Taxes” Is Not a Free Lunch

The summary on page 9 makes it clear: current proposals to cut or eliminate property taxes are long on headlines and short on detail. They:

• Exempt schools and law enforcement,

• But don’t fully explain how to fund everything else—courts, clerks, parks, libraries, voter-approved conservation programs, and neighborhood-level services.

For homeowners, that doesn’t mean you should be for or against any specific bill. It does mean you should:

• Look beyond the slogan to the service impacts

• Pay attention to how those services might be funded instead

• Factor community stability and local government health into your real estate decisions

Final Thoughts from a Realtor’s Perspective

As local Realtors, We are watching these proposals closely because they go straight to the heart of what buyers and sellers care about most: safety, quality of life, and long-term property values.

If you’re thinking about buying or selling in Collier County or elsewhere in Florida and want to discuss how property tax changes could affect your specific neighborhood or property type, We are happy to walk through it with you in plain English—numbers, services, and all.