Save Our Homes Florida: How the 3% Cap Protects Your Property Taxes

What Save Our Homes Actually Does for Florida Homeowners

Florida's Save Our Homes amendment caps annual increases in a homesteaded property's assessed value at 3% or the Consumer Price Index (CPI), whichever is lower. It was passed by Florida voters in 1992 and took effect January 1, 1995, under Article VII, Section 4 of the Florida Constitution. If you own a homesteaded property in Pinellas, Pasco, or Hillsborough County, this cap is likely saving you hundreds — or thousands — of dollars every year.

Here's the practical effect: if you bought a home in Old Northeast in 2015 for $350,000, and that home is now worth $700,000, your assessed value isn't $700,000. It's been growing at 3% per year (or less), so it might sit somewhere around $450,000. You're paying taxes on $450,000, not $700,000. That's a real dollar difference on your annual bill.

How the 3% Cap Is Calculated

The cap works off your assessed value from the prior year — not your purchase price, and not the current market price. Each January 1st, the Pinellas County Property Appraiser reassesses your home. Under Save Our Homes, that new assessed value cannot exceed the lower of:

• 3% above last year's assessed value, or
• The percentage change in the national Consumer Price Index (CPI)

In years with low inflation — like 2015 or 2019 — the actual cap was often closer to 1–2%. In the high-inflation environment of 2022–2023, CPI surpassed 3%, so the cap defaulted to 3% flat. For 2025, the Florida Department of Revenue set the SOH cap at 3.0%, the maximum allowed, reflecting continued above-target inflation.

Example calculation:

| Year | Market Value | SOH Assessed Value | Tax Savings (at 2% effective rate) | |------|-------------|-------------------|-------------------------------------| | 2015 (purchase) | $350,000 | $350,000 | $0 | | 2020 | $475,000 | $405,000 | $1,400/yr | | 2023 | $620,000 | $443,000 | $3,540/yr | | 2026 | $700,000 | $484,000 | $4,320/yr |

Estimates based on Pinellas County effective millage rates. Your actual savings depend on your specific taxing district and exemptions.

Why This Matters Even More in 2026

St. Petersburg home values have climbed roughly 3.2% year-over-year through Q1 2026, according to Stellar MLS data. That's on top of the 30–50% appreciation many Pinellas County neighborhoods saw between 2020 and 2023. The gap between assessed value and market value — what property tax wonks call the "SOH benefit" — is wider today than at any point since the program began.

For a homeowner in Snell Isle who bought in 2016 at $500,000 and is now sitting on a $950,000 home, the SOH accumulated benefit can easily be $200,000 to $300,000 in assessed-value suppression. That translates to roughly $4,000 to $6,000 per year in tax savings at current Pinellas County millage rates.

This gap also creates a meaningful consideration for buyers. When a longtime owner sells, the new buyer gets re-assessed at full market value starting the following January 1st. A buyer purchasing that Snell Isle home at $950,000 will see a tax bill calculated on close to $950,000 (minus their own homestead exemption), not the seller's $650,000 assessed value. For buyers, this is a real budget line item to model before closing.

Save Our Homes and Portability: The Rule Long-Time Owners Often Miss

When you sell your homesteaded Florida property, your Save Our Homes benefit doesn't evaporate — you can port it to your next Florida homestead. This is called SOH Portability, and it's governed by Florida Statute §193.155(8).

Here's the short version: you can transfer up to $500,000 of your accumulated SOH benefit to a new Florida homestead, as long as you establish that new homestead within three years of abandoning (selling) the old one.

Portability is calculated like this:

1. Your SOH benefit = Market value at sale minus assessed value at sale
2. If you're upsizing, you can port 100% of that benefit (up to $500,000)
3. If you're downsizing, you port a proportional share based on the ratio of new home value to old home value

Example: You sell a Shore Acres home with a $200,000 SOH benefit. You buy a larger home in Westchase. You can potentially port the full $200,000, reducing your new assessed value by $200,000 from day one — before your homestead exemption even kicks in.

This is a major financial consideration for anyone thinking about moving within Florida. I've had sellers in Historic Kenwood who sat on a home longer than they wanted to because they didn't realize they could take their tax savings with them. Once they understood portability, the math changed.

What Happens to SOH When You Stop Homesteading?

A few scenarios that trigger reassessment at full market value:

• You sell the property. The buyer is assessed at market value the following year.
• You convert to a rental. The moment you abandon the homestead and rent the property, you lose the SOH cap.
• You miss the homestead renewal deadline. If the Pinellas County Property Appraiser's office determines you no longer occupy the home as your primary residence, the benefit is removed.
• The property is inherited. Heirs do not automatically inherit your SOH cap. They must apply for their own homestead exemption, which resets the assessed value.

One nuance worth knowing: if you pass a homesteaded property to a child or grandchild who also plans to homestead it, Florida law (§193.703) provides a partial assessment limitation — but it's not the same as a full SOH transfer.

Save Our Homes vs. the Homestead Exemption: Two Different Benefits

These two are frequently confused, even by longtime Florida homeowners.

| Benefit | What It Does | Dollar Impact | |---------|-------------|---------------| | Homestead Exemption | Reduces assessed value by $50,000 before taxes are applied | Fixed $50K reduction; saves ~$1,000/yr at current Pinellas millage | | Save Our Homes Cap | Limits how fast assessed value can grow each year | Grows over time; can save $3,000–$7,000+/yr for long-term owners | | SOH Portability | Lets you carry the SOH benefit to a new Florida homestead | Up to $500,000 transferable; resets the clock at your new address |

You must have a homestead exemption to receive the Save Our Homes cap. They work together — the exemption is the door, SOH is the lock that keeps your taxes from running away.

What This Means If You're Thinking About Selling in Tampa Bay

If you've owned your Pinellas, Pasco, or Hillsborough home for more than five years, there's a good chance your assessed value is significantly below your market value. That gap matters for two reasons:

1. Your net proceeds are better than you think. You've been paying taxes on a suppressed value, which means your carrying costs have been lower than a newer buyer would face.
2. You have portability to deploy. If you're buying your next home in Florida, your SOH benefit travels with you. That reduces your future tax burden from day one.

The flip side: your buyers will pay higher taxes than you did. When I'm listing a home where the owner has a large SOH benefit, I make sure buyers understand what their realistic tax bill looks like — it's part of an honest pricing conversation, not something to hide in the disclosures.

Zillow and other automated valuation tools don't reflect any of this nuance. They'll show you a Zestimate with a 7–12% error rate and zero context about assessed value gaps, portability windows, or how your SOH benefit affects your net position. That's exactly where a local agent adds real, measurable value.

If you want to know your current assessed value, your estimated SOH benefit, and what your home would realistically sell for in today's market, I'll pull 3 real MLS comps and text them to you within 24 hours — free, no pressure. Request your free home valuation here.