Pensacola’s property‑tax rate will remain the same this year, but many property owners should still expect higher bills. At a state‑required budget hearing Wednesday, the City Council voted 5‑0 to tentatively adopt its fiscal 2026 budget and to set the city’s millage at 4.2895 and the Downtown Improvement Board (DIB) at 2.0 mills — both unchanged from last year. Because taxable values climbed, the total take is 8.06% above the “rollback” level that would have kept overall collections flat year over year.
A “mill” is $1 of tax for every $1,000 of taxable value. The “rollback rate” is the rate that would raise the same total amount as last year, after excluding new construction and some other changes. When property values rise, even an unchanged millage brings in more dollars. Florida’s homestead rules partially cushion that: for a primary residence, the taxable value generally can’t increase by more than 3% a year, even if market prices jump faster. (When a home is sold, that cap resets for the new owner.)
District 2 Councilman Charles Bare summed up the practical effect: “While there isn’t an increase in the millage rate, there’s still an increase in the tax burden for people because the valuations went up,” he noted…