Save Our Homes Portability: Will 2026 Changes Cost You?

The Short Answer on Portability and the 2026 Changes

Why Florida Movers Are Nervous About the 2026 Tax Vote

If you have owned your Florida home for years, you have probably watched your property tax bill stay calm while neighbors who bought recently pay far more. That gap is the Save Our Homes benefit at work, and many long-time owners are now reading ballot headlines and worrying: if the rules change in 2026, will moving wipe out everything I have built up?

Take a breath. The benefit you have accumulated is not being deleted, and Florida already has a way to carry it with you. What most movers underestimate is not the law but the tax bill on the next house. This guide covers what portability does, what the 2026 proposals would and would not change, and how the move affects your monthly payment. For context, see our overview of property tax changes Florida homeowners should watch in 2026.

Quick Start: Pick Your Path

What Save Our Homes Portability Actually Does

Start with the cap. Save Our Homes is a Florida constitutional provision that limits how much the assessed value of a homesteaded property can rise each year to the lesser of 3% or the change in the Consumer Price Index. “Assessed value” is the figure your taxes are calculated on, and over years it can fall well below market value. That difference is your accumulated benefit.

When you sell, that benefit does not automatically follow you, and the new owner of your old home is reassessed at full market value. Portability is the separate step that carries it forward: you apply for a new homestead exemption on the next house, then file the portability transfer so the new home’s assessed value is reduced by your ported amount. It is never automatic, and Pegasus does not file it for you — it runs through your county property appraiser.

What the 2026 Proposals Would — and Would Not — Change

Three proposals matter most for movers. HJR 213 is a proposed constitutional amendment that would have property reassessed for non-school taxes once every three years rather than annually, with the increase over that period limited to 3% or CPI. For a long-term owner this generally means slower assessed-value growth, not a lost benefit.

HJR 211 goes the other direction: it proposes removing the $500,000 cap on the portable benefit, so an owner could transfer their full accumulated amount. HJR 67 proposes lowering the annual assessment cap from 3% to 1.5% (or CPI if lower).

What stays the same in every version: portability still exists, you still apply through your county, and you still face filing deadlines. The 2026 conversation is mostly about whether the benefit gets bigger or grows more slowly, not whether it disappears. Because each is a proposed amendment requiring voter approval, none is law today, and none would apply to a move made before 2027.

Today’s Rules Versus the 2026 Proposals at a Glance

The table below contrasts current law against the three proposals across the points that affect a mover’s decision and budget. Treat any proposal column as conditional — it applies only if voters approve it in November 2026, effective January 1, 2027.

The practical read: current law already protects you when you move correctly, and the proposals lean toward expanding or smoothing the benefit rather than taking it away.

How to Move Your Save Our Homes Benefit Without Losing It

The sequence matters more than most people realize, and the mortgage checkpoint is part of it. Missing a single deadline can forfeit years of savings.

1. 1
   Sell or abandon your old homestead.The transfer-window clock starts the year you give up the homestead, not the year you buy.
2. 2
   Establish your new Florida homestead within three tax years.The new home must be your permanent residence and qualify for its own homestead exemption.
3. 3
   File the homestead exemption and Form DR-501T by March 1.Portability requires its own application in addition to the homestead exemption.
4. 4
   Build the tax reset into your financing.Make sure your lender estimates escrow on the new home’s reassessed value, not the seller’s old bill. See how the mortgage loan process works.
5. 5
   Confirm on your TRIM notice and tax bill.Review the August TRIM notice; the ported benefit should appear before the November bill.

Why Your New Home’s Tax Reset Hits Your Mortgage Payment

This is the part movers most often miss. Your monthly mortgage payment is usually PITI — principal, interest, taxes, and insurance. The taxes and insurance portions go into an escrow account your lender uses to pay those bills. When a long-time owner sells, their low capped value does not transfer to you; the home resets to full market value and the tax line in your escrow can climb sharply.

Two consequences follow. Your monthly payment is higher than a listing’s “current taxes” figure suggests, and lenders calculate your debt-to-income ratio — the share of monthly income committed to debt — using the full housing payment including taxes, so a higher tax line can affect what you qualify for. Portability helps by reducing the new home’s assessed value, which is why filing it matters financially. Our guide to how much house you can really afford works through this math. If your file is complex — self-employed income, a foreign national purchase, or a tight debt-to-income margin — the Pegasus USA lending team can model the reset before you commit.

Common Mistakes Florida Movers Make With Portability

• Budgeting off the seller’s old tax bill. The MLS figure often reflects a long-term owner’s capped value, not what you will pay after the reset.
• Assuming portability is automatic. It requires a separate application (Form DR-501T) on top of the homestead exemption.
• Missing the three-tax-year window. The clock starts when you abandon the old homestead, not when you close.
• Missing the March 1 filing deadline. Late filing is discretionary, so a missed date can cost a full year.
• Forgetting joint-ownership rules. When a homestead is jointly owned, all owners generally must abandon it for the benefit to transfer.
• Waiting on the 2026 vote to act. No proposal is law, and none would apply before 2027, so timing a move solely around the ballot can backfire.

For a wider list, see our rundown of costly tax mistakes property owners should avoid in 2026.

Frequently Asked Questions

Sources & References

1. Florida Senate — HJR 213 (2026) bill page and staff analysis: flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2026/213/
2. Florida House of Representatives — HJR 213 bill detail: flhouse.gov — HJR 213
3. Florida Department of Revenue — Save Our Homes Assessment Limitation and Portability Transfer (PT-112): floridarevenue.com/property/Documents/pt112.pdf
4. Florida Department of Revenue — Property Tax Oversight: floridarevenue.com/property/
5. Florida House property tax reform proposals overview (HJR 201–213) — Jones Walker LLP analysis: joneswalker.com
6. Florida Policy Institute — Bill summary, HJR 201, 203, 205, 207, 209, 211, and 213: floridapolicy.org
7. Palm Beach County Property Appraiser — Portability: pbcpao.gov/portability.htm
8. Miami-Dade County Property Appraiser — Portability: miamidadepa.gov