In an October County News piece, National Association of Counties CEO Matt Chase explains that “Taxation policy and service delivery decisions are being moved, state by state, from the courthouse to the statehouse. The accountability lands on us. The authority to meet it increasingly doesn’t,” he writes.

NACo information stems from its ongoing tracking of how governors and state legislatures pursue tax relief measures. The biggest takeaway from Chase: “Governors, legislators and petition drives are pushing to shrink or eliminate property taxes. In many of these proposals, the legislation does not provide a dollar-for-dollar replacement for local revenue, leaving counties to absorb some combination of levy restrictions, spending reductions or other revenue changes.”

Following, verbatim taken from the report are some of the biggest changes that have either passed or are being considered in coming months:  

• Florida: Voters decide Amendment 3 on Nov. 3; it needs 60% to pass. Placed on the ballot in a June special session, it would raise the homestead exemption on non-school taxes to $150,000 in 2027 and $250,000 in 2028, cut the assessment cap on non-homestead property from 10% to 5% and direct the Legislature to create a process to increase non-school homestead exemptions over time. 

It provides no state backfill and remaining property tax revenue must go to state-defined core services. Florida’s Revenue Estimating Conference estimates recurring local revenue losses of about $11.9 billion once fully phased in; county-level impacts vary substantially. 

• Indiana: SB 1(2025) delivered about $1.2 billion in homeowner relief over three years through a 10% homestead credit (up to $300), phases down the standard homestead deduction and a larger business equipment exemption. 

It also reduced levy growth, requiring a separate vote to raise a levy and reduced local income tax revenue capacity by about $1.9 billion. Now some legislators are floating an end to property taxes on primary homes, which raised about $4.1 billion last year or 38% of the statewide total. The Association of Indiana Counties calls it a “huge concern” because no one has said how the money would be replaced.

• Iowa: Gov. Kim Reynolds signed SF 2472 on May 18 after a last-minute deal at the end of the session. The law generally caps local government revenue growth at 2% a year, with exceptions for schools, county supplemental levies and a few others. It also limits school district unspent balances to 35% of authorized spending, swaps the homestead credit for an exemption and limits TIF (tax increment financing) districts to 20 years.

• North Carolina: A new law delays the use of certain 2026 property reappraisals for one year; a subsequent law changed which nine counties are subject to the moratorium. The issue is about delaying revaluations, not eliminating them. SB 889, signed by Gov. Josh Stein June 19, required affected counties to use their previous property values for the 2026-27 tax year, with 2026 reappraisal values taking effect in 2027. SB 474, effective July 7, changed the counties covered by the moratorium. 

• Texas: There are competing proposals on the horizon for the 2027 legislative session. The homestead exemption for school taxes has grown from $15,000 in 2015 to $140,000 for school taxes, with the state covering much of the resulting school revenue loss.

Gov. Greg Abbott’s reelection plan would let voters end school property taxes on homesteads, cap local spending growth at 3.5% or population plus inflation, require two-thirds voter approval for local tax increases and allow citizen-petitioned rollback elections. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick prefers another $40,000 exemption. The 2027 Legislature will decide which, if any, of these approaches becomes law.

For more news from NACo see its State Policy Research Hub.  

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