Manatee, Sarasota and five other Florida counties vote Tuesday on taxes to protect land from development

Voters in Manatee and Sarasota counties will decide Tuesday, Nov. 3, whether to tax themselves to buy and protect natural land, part of a wave of local conservation measures on ballots in seven Florida counties this fall. Brevard, Charlotte, Marion, St. Johns and Santa Rosa counties also have measures that would fund land or water protection, ranging from property tax levies and bond authorizations to sales tax renewals.

The measures come as fast growth reshapes much of the state. Manatee County has grown about 30% over the last decade and Sarasota County about 19%, according to WUSF, and Ocala grew faster than any other U.S. metro area between 2024 and 2025, according to the Census Bureau.

Manatee: a new tax and $75 million in bonds

Manatee County's measure would create a new property tax of up to 0.16 mills to buy environmental land and keep it from being developed. It would also authorize up to $75 million in general obligation bonds that would mature within 20 years.

The Trust for Public Land estimates the tax would cost about $34 a year for the median homesteaded house in Manatee. The county's own estimate is that the 0.16-mill levy would add about $47 a year to the bill for a home with a taxable value of $300,000.

The 2026 version goes further than the one voters approved six years ago. It would let the county buy development rights on agricultural properties, permanently limiting their use to activities such as farming and ranching. In 2020, 71% of Manatee voters approved a smaller referendum, with up to $50 million in bonds and a 0.15-mill tax, aimed at protecting about 1,000 acres.

Traci Dean, president and CEO of Conservation Florida, an Orlando-based nonprofit that endorsed the measures in both counties, said Manatee's growth is driving the need. As the population rises, she told WUSF, "the demand for clean drinking water and for parks and for natural areas and for wildlife habitat is increasing."

"Conservation ballot initiatives like this one give the community a direct say in how we protect natural resources," Dean said.

Sarasota: extending a program that dates to 1999

Sarasota County voters face two separate questions that would continue two long-running programs: the Environmentally Sensitive Lands Protection Program, created in 1999, and the Neighborhood Parkland Program, created in 2005.

The first question would keep the existing 0.25-mill property tax that funds both programs in place through 2049. The current authorization runs through Dec. 31, 2029. The second question would authorize up to $250 million in bonds, though approval would not require the county to borrow the full amount. The tax costs about $51 a year for a median homesteaded house, according to WUSF.

"This is another part of the state where we're seeing a lot of growth, a lot of development," Dean said. "What this will do is continue a very successful program in Sarasota County. This program has protected over 42,000 acres in its history."

Both the Manatee and Sarasota measures include annual audits and citizen oversight.

The other five counties

The five other conservation measures on Tuesday's ballot vary widely in how they would raise money:

Brevard County voters approved the Save Our Indian River Lagoon tax for 10 years in 2016, and it expires at the end of 2026. County estimates show it will have raised more than $580 million by then, nearly $59 million a year, for projects that keep pollution out of the lagoon and remove what is already there, including septic-to-sewer conversions, stormwater and wastewater upgrades and muck removal. Renewal would raise an estimated $800 million over the next decade, according to county Natural Resources Management Director Virginia Barker. "Everything's pointing towards a huge success with the SOIRL program," oversight board member Laurilee Thompson told Central Florida Public Media.

Charlotte County would continue the Conservation Charlotte property tax, which voters approved in 2006 and which works out to $1 for every $5,000 of a home's taxable value. The current levy expires at the end of 2026, and the program had about $1.5 million left as of last December, according to WGCU. It has bought land including the Prairie Creek Preserve, which covers more than 1,600 acres, and buffers protecting Charlotte Harbor and major creeks. The new measure would also authorize up to $70 million in bonds.

Marion County would issue up to $140 million in general obligation bonds, with at least 70% going to new parks and trails and 10% to 20% to buying and preserving land, including conservation easements on farms and forests. The tax is a ceiling, not a guaranteed increase, and each batch of bonds would need separate County Commission approval. "None of this is automatic," county parks director Jim Couillard told commissioners.

St. Johns County would borrow up to $100 million for its Land Acquisition and Management Program, which currently receives about $500,000 a year. Commissioners narrowly put it on the ballot in August, with Sarah Arnold and Christian Whitehurst voting no. "We don't get second chances for prime, sensitive, ecologically valuable land," supporter Rhonda Lovett told News4JAX. Whitehurst asked, "Are we overtaxing our people?"

Santa Rosa County commissioners added water quality and natural area protection to the renewal of a half-cent sales tax originally focused on roads, at the recommendation of the Trust for Public Land. The ballot language also lists fire and sheriff's equipment and parks, and calls for independent annual audits.

A track record at the ballot box

Florida voters have generally backed local land and water conservation measures, according to the Trust for Public Land, which helped develop several of this year's proposals. Lake and Osceola county voters approved similar bonds in 2024.

Critics in St. Johns and Santa Rosa have questioned whether new or extended taxes are the right priority. Santa Rosa resident Jerry Couey argued that adding conservation and other purposes to the sales tax would reduce what goes to roads, urging "a focused, dedicated fund for roads," according to WUWF.

Property tax amendment on the same ballot

The local measures share the ballot with Amendment 3, a proposed state constitutional amendment that would sharply raise the homestead exemption from non-school property taxes, to $150,000 in 2027 and $250,000 in 2028, and direct the Legislature to set a schedule to eliminate non-school property taxes on homesteads. It needs 60% approval to pass. Sarasota Magazine, examining the county's conservation questions, reported that the amendment could leave the program with less money. Its potential effect on the other counties' property tax levies would depend on how the amendment is carried out.

What's next

Polls open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 3. Each county measure needs a simple majority to pass. Results will be posted by each county's supervisor of elections on election night.

If the Manatee and Sarasota measures pass, the counties would still decide which properties to buy and when to issue bonds. Bond authorizations in several counties, including Sarasota, Marion and St. Johns, set ceilings rather than requiring the full amount to be borrowed.