A free, independent tool published by Macrify LLC. Not legal advice. Updated November 4, 2026

Approved by Florida voters, November 3, 2026

The new homestead exemption, and a way for your city or county to work through it.

A free AI skill for Florida local governments. Give it your adopted budget and the state tax roll. It measures the revenue you stand to lose, goes through your programs with you, lays out options to evaluate, from trimming or redesigning programs to special assessments and user fees, and drafts the documents for your attorney to review.

Get the skill See how it was done
Illustrative diagram: one homestead's property tax Example home: homestead assessed at $250,000. Not a real tax bill.
Non-school homestead exemption up to $250,000
  • School district$225,000 taxable
  • County$0 taxable
  • City$0 taxable

Bars show the value each government can tax, not dollars owed. The school exemption stays at $25,000. 2026 uses the current maximum non-school exemption of $51,411. Source: HJR 1-F, Art. VII, § 6(a).

What changed

Most homesteads owe far less city and county tax

The homestead exemption from non-school property taxes rises to $150,000 of assessed value in 2027 and $250,000 in 2028, then grows with inflation from 2029. A homestead assessed at $250,000 or less will owe no city or county property tax in 2028. School taxes are not affected.

Art. VII, § 6(a), as amended by HJR 1-F. People who move to Florida after 2026 get a $50,000 exemption for their first five years. For businesses, rentals and other non-homestead property, the yearly cap on increases in assessed value for non-school taxes drops from 10% to 5% (Art. VII, § 4).

Property tax may only pay for certain things

The amendment lists what remaining property tax revenue can be used for. One item is broad, so how much this limits a given program is a question for the government's attorney.

Art. VII, § 9(a)(2), as amended.

Assessments and fees work differently

The exemption doesn't reach "assessments for special benefits," and user fees aren't taxes. So a government can ask property owners or users to pay for specific services instead, if each charge meets Florida's legal tests. That moves some of the cost back onto homesteads, and the skill shows who pays more and who pays less.

Art. VII, § 6(a); read the enrolled text.

How the skill works

It's a long conversation, because these are big decisions. At the end of each stage it writes a short note on what was found and decided, so anyone can pick up where you left off.

  1. Start

    Who you are, which government, what documents you have, and the deadlines that still work this year.

  2. Measure the loss

    Reads your budget and the state tax roll, parcel by parcel, and checks the result against your own estimate.

  3. Go through your programs

    Flags programs that may fall outside the new property-tax uses. You decide: keep, redesign, fund another way, shrink or stop.

  4. Compare packages

    Two or three combinations of choices and charges, with what typical homes and businesses would pay under each.

  5. Draft the documents

    Resolutions, ordinances, notices and studies as Word files, with as many blanks filled in as the record allows.

  6. Write the plan

    A plain-language memo of the choices, the trade-offs, the calendar and every open question.

You make the calls

The skill supplies ideas, numbers and drafts. The judgment stays with the people accountable for it.

Legality is your attorney's call

It lays out the legal tests and the record for each charge, and marks every legal question for counsel. It never says a charge is valid.

Priorities are yours

It won't rank programs or pick a package unless you ask, and then it says what the other choices give up.

Every number has a source

Each figure cites the budget page, tax roll field or document it came from. Anything it can't find goes on a list of questions for staff.

Every decision is written down

A decision log records what you chose, what else was on the table, and why, in your words.

See how it was done: the Largo example

We ran the skill on the City of Largo, using only public records. In 18 minutes it went from one question to a full set of 16 draft documents. Here's how the conversation went, shortened. The yellow notes show what the skill was doing at each point.

  1. 0 min

    Estimate how much property tax revenue my city will lose from Amendment 3 and help me come up with a way to save as many programs as possible.

  2. 0 to 4 min
    • Opened the state tax roll for Pinellas County
    • Searched Largo's budget and news coverage
    • Ran the exemption calculator on Largo's 29,816 parcels
    • Started a decision log
  3. 4 min

    I assumed you mean the City of Largo, since that's your folder's name, and the city's own parcels in your tax roll file confirm it. Largo expects to lose about $15.7 million a year once Amendment 3 is fully in effect.

    One note before anything else. In Florida, a chat like this about city business is probably a public record. Keep it, and don't put confidential legal strategy in it. …

    I also rebuilt the city's part myself from the 2026 state tax roll … About 12,100 of 15,800 homesteads (77%) would pay no city property tax at all.

    … To go further, I need from you: your role … how broadly your attorney reads the amendment … which programs matter most.

  4. 9 min

    I am an interested citizen, not with the City. I'm just trying to help. I think the Attorney wants to avoid as much legal risk as possible, so tell me which programs are most at risk. I care most about the performing arts center. I'm going to ask you to draft everything.

  5. 9 to 18 min
    • Read Largo's budget documents and fire rescue annual report
    • Checked state law on tourist development tax for auditoriums
    • Ran the who-pays calculator for three packages
    • Wrote 16 drafts and built the Word files
    • Looked at a rendered page to check its work
  6. 18 min

    The full draft set is done … 16 Word files, starting with a plain-language plan memo.

    Police and fire together (about $70M) already cost more than all of Largo's property tax (about $44M). So every property tax dollar can go to police and fire. The Center, parks, recreation and the library can then be paid for entirely with the City's other money …

    … Do you want to move any program in the risk table, and which package would you lean toward as a resident?

  7. Later

    Is it possible to create a special assessment for road maintenance?

  8. Later

    Yes, but only in a narrow form. It would also do much less for Largo than a fire assessment. …

Read the full transcript

Every message word for word, with each search, page and calculation listed.

This is an independent demonstration. The person using the skill played an interested citizen. It was not commissioned, reviewed or endorsed by the City of Largo, and nothing in it is advice to the city. Largo's own estimate of the loss is from the city's published materials, including its Review of the City Manager's Alternative Budget (City Commission, October 6, 2026).

The documents it drafted

Sixteen starting drafts for the City Attorney's review, from that session, as Word files. Legal questions are marked [COUNSEL DETERMINATION] and facts the public record doesn't show are left [in brackets]. Each draft carries a note that it's an independent demonstration.

These were made with an earlier test version of the skill. The current version fills in more blanks and highlights the rest in Word: yellow for a fact still to fill in, turquoise for a legal judgment, green for a fact to confirm.

Download all 16 (.zip)

  1. Plan memo

    The short version, three packages, who pays more and less

    Word file

  2. Decision log

    What was decided, and why, in the user's words

    Word file

  3. Resolution of intent

    Keeps a fire assessment possible on the 2027 tax bill

    Word file

  4. Published notice

    Four weekly notices before the hearing

    Word file

  5. No-property-tax fund

    Parks, library and arts paid from other revenue

    Word file

  6. Letter to the county

    County EMS, fire and library money

    Word file

  7. Fire assessment study outline

    What the study must prove

    Word file

  8. Fire assessment ordinance

    The framework for the charge

    Word file

  9. Business impact estimate

    For the fire assessment ordinance

    Word file

  10. Recreation and arts fee ordinance

    Cost-recovery tiers and a ticket fee

    Word file

  11. Business impact estimate

    For the fee ordinance

    Word file

  12. Initial assessment resolution

    Rates, roll and hearing date

    Word file

  13. Hearing notices

    Mailed and published

    Word file

  14. Final assessment resolution

    Adopts the roll

    Word file

  15. Agenda memo and public FAQ

    In plain words

    Word file

  16. Public records requests

    For the numbers still missing

    Word file

Get the skill

Free and open source under the MIT license. It's a folder of instructions, legal references, document templates and small Python scripts that an AI assistant follows.

Download the skill (.zip) View the source on GitHub

Version 0.1.0-rc2, a release candidate (release notes and past versions). In Claude, add the zip under Settings, then Capabilities, then Skills.

Before you start: in Florida, a chat about government business is likely a public record. Keep it, and leave out anything confidential or privileged. Board members shouldn't share or discuss the chat with each other outside a noticed meeting.

What you need

  • An AI assistant that can use the files and run Python. The skill was built and tested in Claude, where you add the folder as a skill. Other assistants that accept uploaded files and can run code should be able to follow it. The skill is free, but your assistant may need a paid plan.
  • Your adopted budget, and any staff estimate of the Amendment 3 impact.
  • The state tax roll file for your county from the Florida Department of Revenue's data portal. It's large, so the skill can cut it down to just your parcels.
  • Time. Plan on a long conversation, over more than one sitting.