Ballot measures

Shall Chapter 2026-196, Laws of Florida, which provides that the Superintendent of Schools for Hillsborough County Public Schools shall no longer be appointed by the School Board, but shall be elected in a partisan election for a term of 4 years, beginning with the 2028 general election, become effective?

Shall the Hillsborough County Charter be amended to increase the number of members of board of county commissioners from 7 to 9 members, with an increase to 11 members once the county has a population of at least 2,500,000, require all county commissioners to be elected to office from single-member districts by electors residing in each of those districts only?

Shall a one-half cent school capital outlay sales surtax be continued for a ten (10) year levy by the School Board of Hillsborough County beginning January 1, 2029, to fund air conditioning replacement and repairs, capital improvements and construction of other schools, building enhancements for school security and other maintenance needs?

In order to continue existing and future maintenance needs, shall the Board of Trustees of Country Run Special Tax District increase the future assessed tax from $50 to $75 and authorize at their discretion to increase the tax by $25 per year in subsequent years, not to exceed $200?

Proposing an amendment to the State Constitution to increase the amount of funds that may be retained in the budget stabilization fund from 10% to 25% of general revenue collections, require the legislature to transfer the lesser of $750 million or the amount required to reach 25% of the general revenue collections each year unless certain conditions are met, and allow the legislature to withdraw funds for critical state needs.

Proposing an amendment to the State Constitution to exempt tangible personal property habitually located or typically present on land classified as agricultural, used in the production of agricultural products or for agritourism activities, and owned by the landowner or leaseholder of the agricultural land from ad valorem taxation. If approved this amendment would first apply for tax years beginning January 1, 2027.

This amendment increases the homestead exemption, for all non-school taxes, to $150,000 in 2027 and $250,000 in 2028, and adjusts for inflation thereafter. It requires the Legislature to prescribe a uniform procedure for counties and municipalities, for their respective levies, to increase the homestead exemption up to full assessed value, and allows special districts, subject to referendum approval, to do the same.

Persons who are not Florida residents on December 31, 2026, will receive the existing homestead exemption upon qualifying for a homestead exemption, with the increased homestead exemption beginning with the fifth year of exemption, to the extent permitted by the U.S. Constitution.

This amendment reduces the annual cap on assessment increases for non-homestead properties from 10% to 5%.

This amendment requires counties and municipalities to use property taxes solely for public safety, education and schools, infrastructure, natural resources, bond debt service, retirement benefits for employees, and operations and administration.

Other expenditures may be approved by county officers or county or municipal governing bodies unless prohibited by general law, notwithstanding Article VII, Section 9(a) of the Florida Constitution, which allows counties and municipalities to levy property taxes for their respective purposes.

This amendment takes effect January 1, 2027.