Government money comes with a lot of jargon. Here is every term on this site, explained simply first, with more detail after. Anywhere on the site, a word with a dotted underline can be tapped for its short explanation.
Community Redevelopment Agencies
Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA)
A savings jar for one neighborhood that needs fixing up. When the neighborhood's property gets more valuable, the extra tax money goes into the jar, and it can only be spent in that neighborhood.
Florida law lets a city or county create a CRA for an area it officially finds run-down. The city commission usually acts as the CRA's board. It follows a written redevelopment plan and has an end date.
Example: Lynn Haven's CRA covers about 695 acres around Ohio and Florida Avenues.
CRA district
The line drawn on the map around the neighborhood a CRA covers. Money raised inside the line is spent inside the line.
Some CRAs have several districts. Panama City has four: Downtown, Downtown North, St. Andrews and Millville.
Tax increment (TIF)
The extra property tax a neighborhood brings in because its property became worth more after the CRA started. That extra is what fills the CRA's jar.
On the day a CRA starts, the total property value inside it is written down. Every year after, the city and the county each pay into the CRA's trust fund the taxes on any value above that starting number. TIF stands for tax increment financing.
Example: If a district was worth $100 million when it started and is worth $150 million now, the taxes on the $50 million difference go to the CRA.
Base year
The starting snapshot of how much all the property in a CRA was worth. Only growth above this number pays into the CRA.
The base year is set when the CRA is created and stays the same for the life of the CRA.
CRA trust fund
The CRA's own bank account. Tax increment goes in, and by law it can only be spent on that CRA's plan.
State law (Chapter 163, Part III) requires each CRA to keep its money in a separate trust fund and report how it was spent every year.
Sunset date
The day a CRA is scheduled to end. After that, the extra tax money goes back to the city and county budgets.
A city can vote to extend a CRA's life. Lynn Haven extended its CRA to 2043 in January 2026.
TIF rebate
A deal where the CRA gives a builder back part of the new taxes their project creates, for a set number of years, to help get the project built.
The rebate is paid only after the owner pays the full tax bill, and it has a maximum amount.
Example: Panama City approved five TIF rebate awards downtown in December 2024.
Façade or storefront grant
Money a CRA gives a business owner to fix up the front of their building, usually matching what the owner spends.
Most programs are 50/50: the CRA pays half, up to a limit, after the work is done.
Property taxes and your bill
Property tax (ad valorem tax)
A tax based on what your house or land is worth. More valuable property pays more.
Ad valorem is Latin for 'according to value.' Several governments each charge their own property tax, and all of them show up on one bill from the Tax Collector.
Taxing authority
Any government allowed to put a property tax on your bill, like the county, the school board or your city.
Each one sets its own rate every year at a public hearing.
Millage (mills)
How property tax rates are written. One mill means $1 of tax for every $1,000 your property is taxed on.
A rate of 5.5 mills is the same as 0.55%. Your bill adds up the mills from every taxing authority that covers your address.
Example: 5 mills on a home taxed at $200,000 is $1,000 a year.
Just value
The Property Appraiser's estimate of what your property would sell for.
It is set as of January 1 each year.
Assessed value
Your property's value after any limits on how fast it can go up. For a homestead, it usually rises more slowly than the market.
Florida's Save Our Homes rule keeps a homestead's assessed value from rising more than 3% a year, or the rate of inflation if lower.
Taxable value
The number your tax is actually figured on: the assessed value minus any exemptions.
It can be different for school taxes and other taxes, because one homestead exemption does not apply to school taxes.
Homestead exemption
A discount on property taxes for the home you live in full time, as long as you apply for it.
The first $25,000 of value is exempt from all property taxes. A second amount, on assessed value above $50,000, is exempt from every tax except school taxes. It was $25,000 until 2024 and now rises with inflation: $25,722 in 2025 and $26,411 in 2026.
Example: In 2025, a homestead assessed at $200,000 was taxed on $149,278 by the city and county and on $175,000 by the school board.
Rolled-back rate
The tax rate that would bring in the same money as last year from the same properties. If a government picks a higher rate, the law calls it a tax increase, even if the rate didn't change.
New construction is left out of the calculation, so growth alone does not count as an increase.
TRIM notice
The postcard you get each August showing your proposed taxes and when the public hearings are.
TRIM stands for Truth in Millage, Florida's law that sets the steps governments must follow before raising property taxes.
Non-ad valorem assessment
A flat fee on your tax bill for a service, like garbage pickup or fire protection. It isn't based on what your property is worth.
It appears on the same bill as property taxes but is calculated per home, per acre or per unit instead of by value.
MSTU
An extra county tax area that pays for services in only part of the county, usually the areas outside cities.
MSTU stands for Municipal Service Taxing Unit.
Required Local Effort
The school tax rate the state tells every school district to charge so it can get its share of state school money.
The Legislature sets it each year. School boards can add a small discretionary rate and a capital rate for buildings.
Save Our Homes cap
A limit on how fast a homestead's taxed value can go up: 3% a year, or less if inflation is lower. Rentals, businesses and second homes have a looser 10% limit.
The limits apply to assessed value, not to tax rates. Amendment 3 would lower the 10% limit to 5% for non-school taxes.
Levy
The total property tax a government collects in a year: its rate times all the taxable value in its area.
Budgets and where money comes from
Revenue Estimating Conference
The state's team of economists that estimates how much money a new law or amendment would add or take away.
Staff from the Legislature, the Governor's office and the Office of Economic and Demographic Research agree on one official estimate.
Example: For Amendment 3, it estimated the loss for every county, city and special district.
Fiscal year (FY)
A government's budget year. In Florida it runs from October 1 to September 30.
It is named for the year it ends in.
Example: FY2026 runs from October 1, 2025 to September 30, 2026.
General fund
A government's main checking account for everyday services like police, parks and running city hall.
Most property tax goes here. Money for special purposes is kept in separate funds.
Enterprise fund
An account for a service you pay for directly, like water and sewer. The bills you pay cover the service.
These run like a small business inside the government.
Special revenue fund
Money that by law can only be spent on one thing, like gas tax for roads or a CRA's trust fund.
State shared revenue
Money the state collects, mostly from sales tax, and sends back to cities and counties.
The biggest piece is the half-cent sales tax program. Cities and counties also get revenue-sharing money based on population and other factors.
Charges for services
Money a government earns by charging for things it provides, like water bills, garbage pickup, permits and park fees.
Intergovernmental revenue
Money one government gets from another, like federal grants or state shared revenue.
Constitutional officers
The elected county officials named in Florida's constitution: the sheriff, property appraiser, tax collector, clerk of court and supervisor of elections.
Each has its own budget, and the county pays for most of them.
Audit / annual financial report
A yearly check of a government's books by outside accountants, to make sure the numbers add up and the rules were followed.
Florida governments must file their audits and financial reports with the state. This site uses those filings.
Contracts, land and borrowing
Change order
An approved change to a contract after it is signed, which often adds cost or time.
Right-of-way
The land a road sits on plus the strip alongside it for sidewalks, utilities and drainage.
Widening a road often means buying more right-of-way.
Eminent domain
When a government buys private land for a public project even if the owner doesn't want to sell. A court decides the fair price.
The court process is called condemnation.
Bond
A way for a government to borrow money now and pay it back with interest over many years, like a mortgage.
The yearly payments are called debt service.
Community Development District (CDD)
A special government created for one development to build and pay for its roads, pipes and other basics. The property owners there pay for it.
Interlocal agreement
A contract between two governments, like a city and the county.