The simmering frustration of 2024 and 2025 has boiled over into a full-scale property tax revolt in 2026, with no fewer than 13 states actively weighing proposals to eliminate property taxes in some form.
But as legislative sessions wear on across the country, the movement is breaking in different directions.
While some states are still pushing aggressive plans to phase out or eliminate property taxes, others have run into roadblocks, exposing the core problem at the center of the movement: It is much easier to promise homeowners relief than to replace the billions of dollars property taxes fund for schools, emergency services, and local governments.
Florida’s property tax repeal push is the biggest test
The Sunshine State offers a rare trifecta of factors that is making property tax elimination there a very real possibility: a governor who enthusiastically supports elimination, a Legislature actively weighing multiple proposals for the November ballot, and homeowners buckling under the pressure of high property taxes.
For his part, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis has repeatedly framed eliminating the property tax as a long-overdue liberation from what he calls “the more oppressive and ineffective form of taxation,” arguing that property owners shouldn’t have to “pay rent to the government” for homes they already own.
After several proposals died in committee last month, DeSantis asserted his support for a special session to hammer out the best way to tackle elimination, framing it as a matter of timing.
“The question is timing,” he said on “Hang Out With Sean Hannity.” “How quickly can you get to where your personal residence is excluded from your property?”
Georgia’s 2032 phase-out plan ran into the same problem
Meanwhile, just north of Florida, the Peach State’s high-profile homeowner property tax phase-out plan hit a wall.
A proposal that would have slashed homestead property taxes over time failed in the House on March 3, after lawmakers had already scaled it back from full elimination.
But relief remians on the table. Days later, House lawmakers revived a narrower version focused on capping annual property tax increases and expanding homestead relief.
Texas is still one of the biggest states to watch
Even after passing a huge property tax relief package in 2023 and 204, Texas Gov. Greg Abbot has made eliminating school property taxes a top priority heading into the 2026 election.
“Every single year, you, my constituents, keep saying our property taxes are too high,” Abbott, a Republican, told supporters at a campaign stop in late 2025. “We have to do more to lower them.”
To do so, he has floated a long-term plan to use state surpluses to buy down school property taxes until they can be phased out entirely.
Ohio’s tax revolt is now bigger than one repeal campaign
A grass-roots campaign is gaining steam in the Buckeye State that would abolish property taxes by adding an amendment to the state Constitution. Citizens for Property Tax Reform was pushing to get property tax abolition on the ballot in 2025, led by a coalition of homeowners who have been pushed to the brink by their tax burdens.
However, after failing to gather the required signatures in time for that cycle, the group is now working to place the measure on the 2026 ballot.
The group’s spokesperson, Beth Blackmarr, told Realtor.com® that she “hit the floor” after she opened her tax bill to see a 51.9% jump in her assessed value. That shock led her to connect with others who were experiencing similar burdens.
Ohio lawmakers have also introduced a measure that would replace property taxes with a land value tax—a move that supporters say would lower the burden on individual homeowners while still generating revenue for local governments.
Nebraska shows how repeal campaigns can lose momentum fast
Nebraska still has one of the boldest ideas on paper, but it is no longer a live 2026 ballot threat.
The EPIC Option would eliminate property, income, and inheritance taxes and replace them with a broad consumption tax. But organizers have now ended the 2026 petition effort and said they are regrouping for 2028 instead.
While the proposal does introduce a 7.5% consumption tax replacement for the lost funds, an analysis by the Tax Foundation found that the rate needed would likely be closer to 21.6%, raising questions about the plan’s feasibility.
Illinois is talking about rebates, not repeal
Illinois residents pay the second-highest property taxes in the nation, according to a recent analysis, and Republican state Sen. Neil Anderson wants to do something about it.
Anderson introduced SB 1862 in October 2025, co-sponsored by state Sen. Dave Syverson, also a Republican, to create a homestead exemption. This exemption would eliminate property taxes for homeowners who’ve paid their share on their residences continuously for at least 30 years.
But the fresher political development is a new push from former Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn and Democratic state Rep. La Shawn Ford for a binding “Millionaire Amendment,” which would add a 3% tax on income over $1 million and dedicate that revenue to property tax relief.
South Dakota is testing a sales tax swap
South Dakota is home to both a grass-roots and legislative push to reduce property tax pain. In the state Legislature, lawmakers have made progress on a bill that would allow counties to ask voters to reduce the county share of property taxes with a local half-cent sales tax.
But some residents don’t think the push goes far enough. In response, a grass-roots effort known as Abolish Property Taxes SD is pushing an initiated constitutional amendment to repeal property taxes and replace them with a new “retail transaction” tax, putting the question directly to voters in 2026 if supporters collect enough signatures.
North Dakota is already delivering near-term relief
In January 2025, North Dakota Gov. Kelly Armstrong used his first State of the State address to propose an ambitious plan that would eliminate property taxes for most homeowners within a decade. His proposal would expand the state’s primary residence tax credit from $500 to $1,550 in its first year, funding the program through investment earnings from the state’s $9 billion Legacy Fund.
As the fund grows, homeowners would receive larger credits each year until property taxes effectively disappear. The plan also includes a 3% annual cap on local property tax budgets—covering cities, counties, schools, and park districts—though local governments could carry over unused increases for up to five years to plan major projects.
Armstrong, a Republican, acknowledged pushback from local leaders but argued that since the state would soon pay over half of local property tax costs, it should have a say in budget growth. While the idea follows a failed 2024 ballot measure to abolish property taxes outright, Armstrong framed his proposal as a more “durable and responsible” path toward the same goal.
Indiana proposes aggressive action
The Hoosier State is currently debating one of the nation’s most aggressive repeal efforts in HB 1288. But what sets Indiana’s approach apart is that it has something that most other plans don’t: a clear replacement plan.
HB 1288 proposes a total phase-out of property tax payments by 2028, funded by a significant expansion of the state sales tax.
Under this plan, the state would stop assessing property values after 2026 and fill the resulting budget gap by taxing previously exempt services, such as legal fees and auto repairs. While the bill has strong backing from fiscal conservatives like Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith, a Republican, it faces a battle in the House Ways and Means Committee.
Kansas is no longer a true repeal story
In Kansas, the energy has shifted away from outright elimination toward slowing how fast property taxes can rise.
This session, lawmakers pushed constitutional amendment ideas that would have capped growth in assessed values, but those efforts ran into resistance in the House. In the closing stretch, legislators moved a narrower bill that would let 10% of registered voters in a taxing jurisdiction force an election on some property tax increases.
Michigan eyes sweeping cuts
In early 2026, Michigan House Speaker Matt Hall joined the chorus of state legislatures hoping to eliminate part of the property tax.
His sweeping plan would eliminate the state’s 6-mill education tax, a levy that generates roughly $4 billion per year in revenue, and the real estate transfer tax. The proposal targets the “pop-up” tax to encourage housing turnover, while also seeking to abolish personal property taxes on business equipment to spur local investment.
While Hall, a Republican, insists the plan will be revenue-neutral for schools and local governments, the mechanism for backfilling that $4 billion hole remains a central point of debate in Lansing.
Oklahoma tries a targeted approach
State Sen. David Bullard’s Ad Valorem Reform Act of 2026 proposes a constitutional amendment to immediately eliminate property taxes for homeowners 65 and older who own their homes outright, while freezing tax rates for all other qualified residents.
“Oklahoma is long overdue for property tax relief for all homeowners, especially those who are retired and live on a fixed income,” Bullard, a Republican, said in a press release. “Removing that tax burden will ease the financial strain that many seniors feel every single day.”
To protect school and local government funding, his plan suggests a transition to a “fair tax” model that replaces property assessments with adjusted sales and consumption taxes. If the Legislature approves the measure during the 2026 session, it will move to a statewide ballot for final voter approval.
Pennsylvania’s proposal is barely alive
State Rep. Russ Diamond, a Republican, introduced House Bill 900 with a clear goal: enabling true homeownership without homeowners feeling like tenants of the government.
“I want people to own their homes and not have to rent from the government, all across Pennsylvania,” he told Fox News.
Diamond did not immediately have a plan to offset the loss of revenue from eliminating property taxes, quipping on his Substack that “folks get all twisted into knots over how we’re going to pay for the things those taxes currently pay for—frankly, they’re missing the point.”
But the bill isn’t moving in any meaningful way. Its official legislative history still centers on committee referral, with no sign of real momentum. That keeps Pennsylvania in the story as a state where the most maximal version of repeal is still being floated, but not as one of the places where abolition appears closest to becoming law.
