The Sumter County tax rate for 2025 starts at a countywide base of about 10 mills, but what you actually pay depends on where your parcel sits. An unincorporated home in The Villages Fire District lands near 10.03 mills; one in the Sumter County Fire District runs about 10.84 mills; and a home inside the City of Webster can push close to 18 mills before any exemptions.1Sumter County Property Appraiser. Tax Rates
2025 Certified Millage Rates
Every parcel in the county pays three baseline levies:
- Sumter County: 4.8900 mills
- Public Schools: 4.9120 mills
- Southwest Florida Water Management District: 0.1831 mills
- Base total: 9.9851 mills
Then one of two fire district rates is added. The Sumter County Fire District charges 0.8571 mills. The Villages Fire District charges 0.0464 mills.1Sumter County Property Appraiser. Tax Rates
If your property sits inside a municipality, the city’s millage stacks on top:
- Wildwood: 2.8287 mills
- Bushnell: 3.3061 mills
- Coleman: 3.2500 mills
- Center Hill: 3.7201 mills
- Webster: 8.0000 mills
A homeowner inside Wildwood on the Sumter County Fire District, for example, faces a combined rate of roughly 13.67 mills. Unincorporated parcels pay only the base plus their fire district levy.1Sumter County Property Appraiser. Tax Rates
These rates were certified in September 2025 and apply to the bill you receive this fall. New rates will be certified again next September for the following year.
Figuring Your Actual Bill
Millage is dollars per thousand of taxable value, so the math is: taxable value multiplied by the millage rate, divided by 1,000. A property with $200,000 of taxable value and a 10.84-mill combined rate owes $2,168 in ad valorem taxes.2Florida Department of Revenue. How Can I Calculate My Property Taxes
Taxable value is not the same as market value. The Property Appraiser starts from the property’s just (market) value, applies assessment limits to produce an assessed value, then subtracts any exemptions you qualify for. What remains is what gets multiplied by the millage.
Non-Ad Valorem Charges on Top
Separate flat-fee assessments appear on the same tax bill but do not use the millage rate. The two most common in Sumter County are the fire protection assessment set annually by the Board of County Commissioners, and community development district maintenance fees that cover landscaping, roads, stormwater, and reserves inside districts like those in The Villages.3Sumter County Tax Collector. Taxing Authority Descriptions Florida law requires these to be collected on the regular tax bill alongside the ad valorem portion.4Florida Senate. Florida Code 197.3632 – Uniform Method for the Levy, Collection, and Enforcement of Non-Ad Valorem Assessments These charges stay flat from year to year regardless of your property’s value, so a parcel in a CDD can carry a meaningfully higher total bill than its millage alone suggests.
Exemptions That Lower What You Owe
Homestead Exemption
If you own your Sumter County home, live in it as your permanent residence on January 1, and file an application, you can exempt up to $50,000 of assessed value. The first $25,000 applies to all levies, including school taxes. The second $25,000 applies to assessed value between $50,000 and $75,000 and does not apply to school taxes.5Florida Department of Revenue. Property Tax Information for Homestead Exemption File Form DR-501 with the Sumter County Property Appraiser along with proof of permanent Florida residency.6Florida Department of Revenue. Florida Form DR-501 Original Application for Homestead and Related Tax Exemptions
Save Our Homes Cap
Once you have the homestead exemption, your assessed value cannot rise by more than 3% per year or the change in the Consumer Price Index, whichever is lower.7Florida Senate. Florida Code 193.155 – Homestead Assessments; Limitations on Annual Increases For the 2026 tax year the CPI figure is 2.7%, so that’s the ceiling for most homesteaded properties.8Florida Department of Revenue. Save Our Homes The cap resets when a property changes hands, so a new owner starts over at full market value. Longtime owners in Sumter County often carry an assessed value well below what the home would sell for.
Seniors With Limited Income
Homeowners 65 and older with household income below roughly $20,000 (adjusted annually) may qualify for an additional homestead exemption of up to $50,000 where the county or city has adopted it. A separate provision can exempt the entire assessed value for seniors who have held their homestead at least 25 years in a home with a just value under $250,000, subject to the same income limit. Both require local adoption and are not automatic.9Florida Legislature. Florida Code 196.075 – Additional Homestead Exemption for Persons 65 and Older
Veterans, Widows, and Widowers
Veterans with service-connected disabilities, surviving spouses, and widows or widowers may qualify for further reductions in taxable value. The amounts depend on the specific status or degree of disability, and applications run through the Property Appraiser.10Florida Department of Revenue. Property Tax – Taxpayers – Exemptions
Agricultural Classification
Land in bona fide agricultural use can be valued on that use rather than its development potential, which often cuts assessed value sharply on acreage near growing residential areas. File Form DR-482 with the Property Appraiser by March 1 of the tax year. The classification can be reviewed in future years.
Paying Early Saves Money
Tax bills go out in November, and Florida law builds in a discount for paying early:
- November: 4%
- December: 3%
- January: 2%
- February: 1%
- March: no discount
On a $3,000 bill, paying in November saves $120 over waiting until March. The final deadline before taxes become delinquent is March 31.11Florida Legislature. Florida Code 197.162 – Tax Discount Payment Periods After that, interest and the tax certificate process begin, and the costs climb quickly.
If You Think the Value Is Wrong
The TRIM (Truth in Millage) notice mailed in August shows your assessed value and the estimated taxes at the proposed rates. If you believe the value is too high, you have 25 days from the mailing date to file a petition with the Sumter County Value Adjustment Board. A denial of an exemption or agricultural classification carries a 30-day window from the date of the denial notice. The filing fee is $35, waived for timely homestead-denial appeals.12Sumter County Clerk of Courts. Value Adjustment Board
Petitions succeed on evidence, not on frustration with the bill. Recent sales of comparable homes nearby, and records showing errors in your property’s listed square footage, lot size, or features, are what move a board decision.