Clay County, Florida Property Tax

Single-family house with a lawn and trees

As of fall 2026. If you bought in Clay this year and you will occupy the house on January 1, 2027, you are lining up a 2027 homestead, due by March 1, 2027. The timely 2026 filing date has passed. Call (904) 309-0609 if you are staring at a TRIM notice and the exemption line is blank. We will help you sort the parcel. We will not guess a millage.

 Why two Clay houses do not match

Buyers coming south from NAS Jacksonville often shop Orange Park, Fleming Island, Middleburg, and Oakleaf in the same Saturday. The houses can feel like one market from the driver's seat. The tax bills do not. Orange Park is a city. Much of Fleming Island, Middleburg, and Oakleaf is unincorporated Clay. Green Cove Springs is its own city and the county seat. Keystone Heights sits at the south end of the county with its own city limits. Each of those can carry a different stack of county, school, municipal or MSTU, and special-district lines.

A county average will not tell you the payment. The TRIM notice for that parcel will. Use assessed value after Save Our Homes, subtract the exemptions that actually apply, then apply the millage printed on that notice. Divide by 1,000. Then add the flat fees. Fire, solid waste, stormwater, and a community development district do not get smaller because homestead got larger.

Just value is the appraiser's market number. Assessed value is just value after the cap. Taxable value is assessed value minus exemptions. You will see two taxable values once homestead is on the roll: a school taxable value and a non-school taxable value. The school board does not receive the second exemption. If you only subtract $51,411 from the assessed value and multiply by a blended rate, you will understate the school piece.

 The 2026 exemption, applied in Clay

The dollar figures are statewide. St. Johns County Property Appraiser Eddie Creamer confirmed them in March 2026, and they match the Department of Revenue CPI notice. Clay uses the same statute. Section 196.031 is the homestead. Section 196.011 is the application. Section 193.155 is Save Our Homes.

The first $25,000 of assessed value comes off every levy, including the Clay County school levy. That $25,000 does not inflate. The additional exemption for 2026 is $26,411. It comes off non-school levies only, and only from assessed value between $50,000 and $76,411. The band from $25,001 to $50,000 stays taxable for school and for everyone else. Above $76,411, the remaining assessed value is taxable for both, subject to whatever millage is on the notice.

If the assessed value is $70,000, the second exemption is not the full $26,411. Only the slice above $50,000 qualifies, which is $20,000. If the assessed value is $40,000, the second exemption is zero. The full additional amount shows up only when assessed value reaches $76,411. The estimator below starts at a sample assessed value so you can see the shape. Replace that sample with the assessed value on your Clay TRIM notice. Do not type a listing price. Do not type the seller's old assessed value and pretend you bought their cap.

Leave both millage boxes at zero until the TRIM notice is in front of you. This page does not store a Clay rate, because the rate is not one number. When you do type them, put school millage in the school box. Put county, city, MSTU, and district millage in the other box. The result is an estimate. It is not the bill Diane Hutchings will mail.

Non-ad valorem lines stay outside that box on purpose. If Oakleaf or a Fleming Island section carries a CDD assessment, add that figure from the notice after the estimate. The same goes for a flat waste or stormwater charge. Homestead does not erase them.

 Save Our Homes and the reset

For 2026 the Save Our Homes cap is 2.7 percent, the lesser of 3 percent and the CPI change the Department of Revenue used. The cap limits how fast assessed value can climb after you have homestead. It does not limit the millage. It does not limit a non-ad valorem fee. If assessed value is still under just value, the assessed number can still move up toward just value inside the cap. That is recapture. Ask the appraiser which limitation is on your notice before you tell a lender the taxes are locked.

The cap you see on the seller's TRIM notice belongs to the seller's ownership. A normal sale resets assessed value closer to just value for you. The seller may transfer their accumulated Save Our Homes difference to their next Florida house. They do that with Form DR-501T, filed in their new county. If their new county is Clay, they file it with Tracy Scott Drake's office, generally at the same time as the new homestead. If you are the buyer, their portability does not ride along with the keys.

The amount that ports is capped by statute. We will not print a sample savings figure. Bring the old TRIM notice and let Clay calculate the difference between the old just value and the old assessed value. Last year's Orange Park tax bill, or last year's Duval tax bill, is not a credit against the new one. Different assessed value, different millage, different year.

 Where you file, and when

Own the house, legal title or equitable title, on January 1. Occupy it as your permanent residence on that same date. Then file. The ordinary deadline is March 1. In 2026, March 1 was a Sunday, so the timely deadline was Monday, March 2, 2026. That date has passed.

Clay gives you three ways to file on time: the portal at exemption.ccpao.com/Homestead/, mail, or the counter. The property appraiser's site is ccpao.com. Phone (904) 284-6305, extension 1. Drive to the County Administration Building, second floor, 477 Houston Street, Green Cove Springs, FL 32043. The hours are Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Houston Street is in the county seat, inland from the spring and the riverfront houses. Give yourself time to park and go to the second floor. Do not leave the packet with a different county office because the sign said "tax."

What to put in the packet

The Florida driver license or Florida ID must show the Clay homestead address. A card that still says Jacksonville, or a card that still says Virginia from the last duty station, does not match the parcel. Update the license first. Then add one more proof. Clay accepts a voter card, a vehicle registration, a W-2, a federal return, or a utility bill. One of those, not a stack you hope will distract from the license.

You do not have to register to vote to get homestead. If you do vote, the card should show this address, and it can serve as the second item. The Social Security number is mandatory under section 196.011. Bring it for each owner the application covers. Date of occupancy matters. If you closed in September and the furniture arrives in December, the occupancy date is when you actually move in, and the January 1 test is January 1, 2027.

If a trust is on the deed, bring the pages that show you hold beneficial title. Have the closing attorney or another Florida attorney confirm the trust qualifies. We are not going to bless a trust from a blog. A spouse who is on title, and a spouse who lives in the house but is not on title, can be two different questions at the counter. Ask before you split the errand.

The late rule, stated the way Clay states it

Online and mail are for a timely file. Clay's own instructions say applications after the March 1 deadline must be filed in person, with a late-file explanation, up to 25 days after the TRIM notice is mailed. TRIM season is mid to late summer. By September 28, 2026, you should assume nothing. Call (904) 284-6305, extension 1, and ask whether a 2026 late file can still be accepted that day. If the answer is no, stop looking for a workaround. File for 2027 when you qualify.

The office's processing plan for timely 2026 applications was July 1, 2026. Denials were mailed July 1. If you were approved, the exemption shows on the August TRIM. Open that notice. Check the owner name, the exemption lines, the school taxable value, and the non-school taxable value. If you were denied, the denial is the document that starts any appeal, and the deadline on it is the one that counts. A conversation in a driveway does not extend it.

A buyer closing this fall does not use the late 2026 path to grab a year they did not occupy on January 1, 2026. You cannot homestead a year you did not own and live in the house on New Year's Day. Close in October, move in by January 1, 2027, and file by March 1, 2027. That exemption shows on the 2027 TRIM, not on the bill the seller's year already built.

After approval

Clay homestead renews. The appraiser mails a renewal. Read it. Refile if ownership changes, marital status changes, or the house stops being your permanent residence. Renting the house out and moving back to the base, or back to another state, is a residency change. Report it. Keeping the exemption "until the renters leave" is how section 196.161 enters the story.

A wrongful exemption can become a lien, plus a 50 percent penalty and 15 percent interest. A clerical error by the appraiser is treated differently. If the notice does not match the application you filed, call and correct it in writing. One permanent residence. A residency-based exemption still open in another state can knock out the Clay exemption. Both spouses need to be clean on that point before you sign.

 Seniors, and the lines we will not invent

The senior local-option exemption uses age 65 on January 1 and a 2026 household income limit of $38,686. Counties adopt it or they do not. Do not write an extra $50,000 onto a Clay budget because a statewide summary said "up to." Ask Tracy Scott Drake's office whether Clay has adopted that option for the year in question, and bring the income proof they specify.

The long-term senior option is separate: 25 years on the homestead and a just value under $250,000. It is also local. Ask. Do not stack it on top of the income-based exemption unless the office says both are in force on that parcel.

School grades, test scores, and a single county millage are in the same category as a made-up senior amount. We will not print them. Clay County District Schools is the district, at oneclay.net. The district adopts school millage. The district does not grant homestead. County information lives at claycountygov.com.

 Who sends the Clay bill, and the discount

Tax Collector Diane Hutchings sends the bill. The site is claycountytax.com. Main phone (904) 269-6320. The property tax phone is (904) 269-6395. Mail goes to PO Box 218, Green Cove Springs, FL 32043. Pay that office. Do not pay the appraiser, and do not hand a tax check to anyone at a closing who is not the title company disbursing a proration.

The Duval Tax Collector published the discount schedule that follows the Florida statute: 4 percent if paid by November 30, 3 percent by December 31, 2 percent by January 31, 1 percent by February 28, then due by March 31 before the bill is delinquent. Other counties, Clay included, use that same statute. Confirm the due date printed on the Clay bill before you count on a discount. A proration at a fall closing is not the November discount, and it usually does not include a homestead you have not filed yet.

If the value on the TRIM notice looks wrong, use the petition deadline printed on the notice. Do not wait for Hutchings' bill in November to fight an assessment that was mailed in August. Value fights go through the process on the TRIM notice. Missing exemptions go back to the appraiser.

 The county line is a filing line

Oakleaf sits against Duval. Argyle Forest Boulevard continues into Jacksonville. A marketing name can spill across the line even when the deed does not. Fleming Island looks at St. Johns County across the St. Johns River. US 17 runs from Green Cove Springs up through Orange Park and into Duval toward NAS Jacksonville. Blanding Boulevard does the same job on the west side. Read the county on the tax record before you pick a lobby. The statewide filing map, with the same 2026 dollars, is the Florida property tax guide. The desks below are the ones you use when the house is not actually in Clay.

Duval, if the parcel is across the line

Duval's homestead portal is homestead.coj.net. Phone (904) 255-5900. In person: 231 E. Forsyth Street, Suite 260, Jacksonville, FL 32202. The deed must be in your name before the online system will accept you. The office says to allow about 60 days after closing for the deed to post. If it has not posted, file in person. The online session does not save. Plan about an hour. Bring the Florida ID with the Duval address, card number and issue date, vehicle tag, voter card if you vote, date of birth, Social Security number, date of Florida residency, date of occupancy, purchase date, and the mailing address on the last IRS return. Adding a person or an extra exemption to an existing Duval homestead is in person only.

Duval's tax collector is at the same Forsyth Street complex, phone (904) 255-5700, duvaltc.com and the city tax collector page. Hours Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Schools are duvalschools.org. A Duval parcel does not get a Clay school line, and a Clay parcel does not get a Duval magnet zone. The deed records at the Duval County Clerk of Courts.

St. Johns, across the river

St. Johns takes homestead, portability, and other exemptions online. Property Appraiser Eddie Creamer: sjcpa.gov/homesteadportability and sjcpa.gov/exemptions. Phone (904) 827-5500. Email sjcpa@sjcpa.gov. The Florida license must show the St. Johns address. Licenses updated after November 1, 2023 may have a new number. Upload the new card. Non-U.S. citizens bring the permanent resident card. Trusts: upload the pages that show beneficial ownership. Neither spouse may hold a residency exemption in another state.

The tax collector is sjctax.us, (904) 209-2250, 4030 Lewis Speedway, St. Augustine. Schools are stjohns.k12.fl.us. County site: sjcfl.us. Julington Creek and Fruit Cove are St. Johns even when a headline says Jacksonville. They are not Clay, and they are not filed on Houston Street.

Nassau, to the north

Nassau is a different drive and a different appraiser, A. Michael Hickox. Instructions: ncpafl.com. Phone (904) 491-7300. Toll free 1-888-615-4398. Main office: 96135 Nassau Place, Suite 4, Yulee, FL 32097. Also the Historic Courthouse, 416 Centre Street, Fernandina Beach, and the Callahan County Building, 45401 Mickler Street, Callahan. 2026 applications closed March 2, 2026. 2027 applications are already open, online or in person. A 2026 purchase that is your permanent residence can be filed for 2027 through March 1, 2027, and it shows on the August 2027 TRIM.

Bring both spouses' Florida documents: license with the address, vehicle registration, Nassau voter registration if you vote, and Social Security numbers. Tax Collector John M. Drew: nassautaxes.com, (904) 491-7400, 86130 License Road, Fernandina Beach. Clerk: nassauclerk.com, (904) 548-4600, 76347 Veterans Way, Yulee. County: nassaucountyfl.com. Schools: nassau.k12.fl.us, (904) 491-9900, 1201 Atlantic Avenue, Fernandina Beach. The city, if you are inside Fernandina Beach, is fbfl.us. City millage and county millage are not the same line.

Columbia, west on I-10

Lake City is Columbia County, not a far-west Clay ZIP. Property Appraiser Jeff Hampton: columbia.floridapa.com, (386) 758-1083, contact@ccpafl.com, 135 NE Hernando Avenue, Suite 238, Lake City, FL 32055. Weekday hours 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The exemptions page, ccpafl.com/property-tax-exemptions, says the initial homestead application must be filed in person. Do not use a third-party online filing product. On time is January 1 through March 1. Late filing runs to the 25th day after TRIM. Contact the office. Bring the deed or contract, Florida ID at the address, Social Security number, and one more proof of residency.

The tax collector is columbiataxcollector.com, (386) 758-1080, Suite 125 at the same Hernando Avenue address. The clerk is columbiaclerk.com. The county site is columbiacountyfla.com. The Northeast Florida MLS may not carry Columbia the way it carries Clay. That does not change the homestead desk.

 How to read a Clay house before you offer

Pull the current tax record on ccpao.com while you are still in the showing, not the night before closing. Look at whether homestead is already on the seller's name. If it is, expect your assessed value to reset. Ask the title company which year's bill they are prorating. Ask your lender to use a tax estimate that matches a reset plus the exemption you will actually have, and only after you qualify. A payment letter that copies the seller's low taxable value will not survive the first reassessment.

Then separate the insurance and the HOA from the tax conversation. We do not quote those here. A Fleming Island HOA and a Middleburg lot with no association are different monthly numbers, and neither one is on the homestead application. Wind insurance is not the TRIM notice. Get those quotes on the address. Then put the tax estimate next to them and see if the house still fits.

If you are porting in from another Florida county, file DR-501T with Clay when you file the new homestead. If you are leaving a residency exemption in another state, clear it. If the license does not show the new address yet, the portal will not paper over that. Houston Street will send you to fix the card. Fix it before the appointment.

 Keep going

The Clay rules above are the desk we use most with families moving off the base toward Orange Park and Fleming Island. The statute behind them is the same one in the other four counties. Houses first, then the ZIP, if you are still choosing a street.

Florida property tax guide  |  Clay County homes  |  Just listed  |  Browse by ZIP  |  Clay County guide

Military Realty of Florida. (904) 309-0609.