With Florida's Amendment 3 property tax vote less than two weeks away, at least three Volusia County cities have floated new fire assessment fees to backfill revenue they expect to lose — and investors should understand the pattern before it reaches their own tax bill.
When a Tax Cut on the Ballot Becomes a Fee on Your Bill
Florida's Amendment 3 — the constitutional amendment that would raise the homestead exemption to $150,000 in 2027 and $250,000 in 2028, and cut the non-homestead assessment cap from 10% to 5% — goes before voters statewide on November 3, 2026. Newkirk covered the measure itself, and what the non-homestead cap change means for landlords, back in August. What's happened since in Volusia County is the part investors should now be watching: cities bracing for the revenue hit are testing a workaround, and it isn't a tax cut at all.
As Amendment 3 has moved toward its November 3 vote, several Volusia County cities — Deltona, Orange City, and New Smyrna Beach — have each proposed new flat-rate fire assessment fees on property tax bills to offset revenue they expect the amendment to cost them. Deltona's City Commission unanimously rejected a proposed $579-per-year residential fee in July 2026 after sustained resident pushback. Orange City's council voted 4-3 to delay its own $150-per-year proposal rather than adopt it outright. New Smyrna Beach was still weighing a tiered fee that would start near $100 a year and climb to roughly $426 by 2030. None of the three fees has been adopted as of this writing — but the pattern is worth understanding now, because a special assessment doesn't carry the same homestead protections as the property tax it's meant to replace.
Bottom Line: A fire assessment fee is a flat, per-parcel charge collected through the tax bill — not a millage-rate tax. That means it isn't reduced by the homestead exemption, isn't capped by Save Our Homes or the non-homestead assessment cap, and generally applies the same dollar amount whether a property is owner-occupied, a long-term rental, or vacant land. If Amendment 3 passes and cities lean on fees like these to fill the gap, the properties with the least ability to offset the difference through existing exemptions may be rental and non-homestead parcels — exactly the inventory Newkirk's investor clients hold.
Why Cities Are Doing This Now
The math driving these proposals goes back to how Volusia's local governments have been sizing up Amendment 3's fiscal impact all year. In a January 8, 2026 budget workshop, County Finance Director Ryan Ossowski warned the County Council that an even broader property tax proposal then circulating in Tallahassee — a full homestead exemption excluding only school-district levies — could cost the county roughly $110 million a year, enough to consume virtually all of its $58 million in discretionary spending (parks, Votran transit, veterans services, beach safety) and still leave a $51 million shortfall. That sweeping version didn't become the measure that ultimately reached the ballot. The narrower amendment voters will actually decide on November 3 — raising the homestead exemption rather than eliminating it, plus the non-homestead cap reduction — is a smaller hit, but Volusia-area city finance officials are still treating it as real money: by June 2026, Orange City was citing a projected $93 million county-wide revenue loss and budgeting for a $1.3 million shortfall of its own in 2027, growing to roughly $2 million by 2028.
Fire departments have become the test case because they're billed as public-safety essentials that are harder to cut than discretionary programs — and because Florida law already gives cities a template for converting fire protection costs into a non-ad valorem special assessment, separate from the millage rate.
Three Cities, Three Different Outcomes So Far
Deltona — Volusia County's largest city by population (101,760 residents in 2026, up 8.2% since the 2020 census, per World Population Review) — went furthest down this road before pulling back. The City Commission had spent roughly $47,315 on a consultant study (Alfred Benesch & Company) to design a parcel-based fire rescue assessment aimed at funding aging fire stations and a roof replacement. When the proposed $579-per-year residential charge came to a vote on July 21, 2026, more than half an hour of public comment at City Hall turned commissioners against it, and the fee was rejected unanimously. Mayor Santiago Avila Jr. said the city would instead look at grants and state funding — leaving the underlying budget pressure, and the possibility of a revised fee, unresolved.
Orange City came to a different kind of non-decision. Its council voted 4-3 on June 9, 2026 to postpone — not kill — a $150-per-year residential fire fee that would have raised about $1.4 million annually (roughly $12.50 a month per household). Mayor Kelli Marks was among the no votes, citing a recent stormwater fee increase, a higher millage rate already in place, and concern for seniors on fixed incomes, while arguing the city was "moving too fast" ahead of the November referendum.
New Smyrna Beach has the most aggressive proposal still on the table. City officials floated a tiered fee starting around $100 a year for homes over 2,100 square feet, rising 25% annually through 2030 to about $426 a year — projected to generate $2.5 million in year one and $10.2 million annually by 2030. As of an August 10, 2026 commission meeting, no fee had been adopted; commissioners instead agreed to hold the city's property tax rate steady for now and said fee questions would return at a follow-up budget workshop. The city's own estimate: a $4.5 million property tax hit in 2028 and nearly $13 million over the amendment's first two years if it passes.
What This Means If You Own Property in These Markets
Deltona is also a market Newkirk hasn't profiled directly until now, and the fee debate is a useful entry point to its numbers. Redfin put Deltona's three-month median sale price at $349,458 in early 2026, up a modest 0.8% year-over-year — a far calmer market than the double-digit swings of 2021-2022. Zumper's citywide rent data (last updated October 9, 2026) shows 3-bedroom homes averaging $1,912 a month and 4-bedrooms at $2,295, both up slightly year-over-year; the citywide blended average sits at $1,855 as of early October. SFR Analytics put gross rental yield for the broader Deltona–Daytona Beach–Ormond Beach metro at 8.42% as of July 2026 — ahead of the statewide average of 8.28%, though that's a first-pass yield figure before taxes, insurance, and a fee like the one Deltona just rejected would factor in.
That's the practical stakes here: an investor underwriting a rental purchase in Deltona, Orange City, or New Smyrna Beach today should model what a $150-to-$580-a-year flat assessment would do to net yield on top of existing millage, insurance, and HOA costs — because these cities have shown they're actively considering it, not hypothetically.
The Investor Takeaway
None of these three fees has been adopted, and all three cities could still change course before their next budget cycle. But the pattern — three Volusia County cities independently reaching for the same tool within a few months of each other — is itself the signal. If Amendment 3 passes on November 3, expect more Florida cities to explore non-ad valorem assessments as a way to backfill lost revenue without raising millage rates that homestead voters would notice first. For rental and non-homestead property owners, a flat per-parcel fee doesn't care about your assessment cap or your exemption — it's the same bill whether your parcel is owner-occupied or a rental. Investors evaluating acquisitions in Volusia County over the next two budget cycles should ask each city directly whether a fire assessment or similar fee is under renewed consideration, not just check the current millage rate.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is a fire assessment fee the same as a property tax? No. It's a non-ad valorem special assessment billed through the property tax roll, but it's a flat per-parcel or per-square-footage charge rather than a percentage of assessed value, and it isn't reduced by homestead exemptions or capped by Save Our Homes.
Has any Volusia County city actually adopted one of these fees? Not as of this writing. Deltona's commission rejected its proposal unanimously in July 2026; Orange City tabled its proposal in June 2026 without a final vote; New Smyrna Beach was still evaluating its tiered proposal as of its August 2026 budget workshop.
Why are cities doing this instead of just raising the millage rate? City officials in these cases cited Amendment 3's anticipated revenue loss, rising fire department costs, and a desire to avoid raising the general millage rate, which is more politically visible to homestead voters. A flat assessment spreads the cost differently — including onto non-homestead and rental property that wouldn't benefit from Amendment 3's exemption increase in the first place.
Work With Newkirk
Whether you're underwriting a Deltona rental, watching the Orange City or New Smyrna Beach markets, or reassessing holding costs across Volusia County ahead of the November vote, Newkirk Investments helps landlords and rental investors read past the headline tax number to the full carrying-cost picture. Talk through your portfolio or explore current investment opportunities with our team at Newkirk Investments, Ormond Beach, 386-290-5356, hello@newkirk-investments.com, or newkirk-investments.com/contact.
Sources
- Spectrum News 13, "Deltona commissioners vote down fire rescue fee after resident pushback," July 22, 2026 — the $579/year proposed fee, unanimous rejection, Mayor Santiago Avila Jr.'s comments
- Hoodline, "Deltona Eyes Fire Fee Shock as Property Tax 'Time Bomb' Ticks," July 17, 2026 (updated July 22) — the $47,315 Alfred Benesch & Company consultant contract and assessment mechanism
- Bay News 9, "Orange City rejects proposed fire assessment fee in 4-3 vote," June 10, 2026 — the $150/year proposal, $1.4 million projected revenue, 4-3 vote, Mayor Kelli Marks's comments, $93 million county-wide estimate
- WKMG News 6 / ClickOrlando, "New Smyrna Beach considers fire assessment fee amid concerns over potential property tax revenue losses," July 2026 — tiered fee structure and revenue projections
- WFTV, "New Smyrna Beach commission agrees property tax rate should hold steady," August 11, 2026 — status of the New Smyrna Beach fee decision
- Daytona Beach Observer, "Florida's property tax reform could cause $110 million loss of revenue for Volusia County," January 2026 — Finance Director Ryan Ossowski's estimate for an earlier, broader proposal
- Redfin data for Deltona, FL via Stacker (Q1 2026 median sale price); Zumper rent research for Deltona (October 9, 2026); SFR Analytics metro rental yield (July 1, 2026); World Population Review, Deltona population estimate (2026)
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