Fort Walton Beach, FL · Updated Oct 2026

What a Fort Walton Beach home costs each year

Property tax, water, trash and energy from public rates. Look up your address to make it yours, and see how to pay less.

Suggestions as you type come from Google; the lookup uses free public map services to find who serves it. Not stored unless you save your house.

Example · a Fort Walton Beach house

$11,050a year · $921 a month

Starts at the typical market value, $321,800; your assessed value is often lower. Typical use.

A Fort Walton Beach house at the typical market value ($321,800) costs about $11,100 a year: $3,860 property tax and charges, $940 water and sewer, $350 trash, $2,020 electricity, $3,890 home insurance. Estimated from public rates, not anyone's actual bill.

Rates checked Oct 21, 2026. Insurance: what you enter, or a typical premium until you do. Sources are listed at the bottom.

Ways to pay less

Nothing here applies to every house automatically. These are worth checking:

Pay your tax bill in November4% off the bill
The Okaloosa County Tax Collector gives 4% off for paying in November, 3% in December, 2% in January and 1% in February; the gross amount is due by March 31.
How: Pay in November for the largest discount.
Quarterly installment plan
Taxpayers whose estimated taxes are over $100 and not paid through escrow can pay in four installments; the first installment is discounted 6% if postmarked by June 30.
How: Return the Installment Plan application to the Okaloosa County Tax Collector before May 1.
Veterans with a service-connected disability: exemptions$5,000 off, or no ad valorem tax
Honorably discharged Florida veterans disabled 10% or more because of misfortune or while serving during wartime may get a $5,000 reduction in assessed value; those with a service-related total and permanent disability may get a total exemption from ad valorem taxes on their homestead.
How: File the required forms and applications with the county property appraiser.
Free household hazardous waste drop-off
Local residents can drop off household hazardous waste such as paint, pesticides, batteries, used oil and fluorescent bulbs for free at 80 Ready Avenue in Fort Walton Beach, Tuesday through Saturday, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How: No appointment necessary; call 850-301-2013 for more information.
Free tire disposal
Local households can dispose of up to 5 passenger car or light truck tires a month for free at the transfer station on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard Landfill.
How: Bring the tires to the transfer station; businesses are not eligible.

Adjust to match your bills

What you knowTrash cartThe residential rate is the garbage charge plus a county tipping fee; recycling and yard waste pickup come with it.

Value before exemptionsThe assessed or appraised value on your tax bill or notice, before exemptions (not the "taxable" line).

I live here and have the Homestead exemption and Additional homestead exemption for non-school taxes

Home insurance, a yearFrom your policy. We start at $3,889, Florida Office of Insurance Regulation, July 2026 Insurer Stability report: Okaloosa County average homeowners premium including wind, data as of March 31, 2026.

Your use

Water, thousands of gallons a month

On your water bill. A typical house uses 5,000–8,000 gallons.

Electricity, kWh a month

On your Florida Power & Light (FPL) bill. An electric car adds about 300 kWh.

Money dates

Nov 1in 8 daysProperty tax statements are mailed on or before November 1; paying in November takes 4% off (3% in December, 2% in January, 1% in February).
Mar 1Deadline to submit the homestead exemption application (Form DR-501) to the county property appraiser for that tax year.
Mar 31The gross property tax amount is due.
Apr 1Real estate taxes become delinquent on April 1 of each year.

Who serves this house

Water: City of Fort Walton Beach; City of Fort Walton Beach inside-city residential water rates effective October 1, 2026: a monthly base charge that includes the first 2,000 gallons, then charges per 1,000 gallons in three blocks; a 10% utility tax applies to water charges.
Property tax: 1.37% of value; 2026 tax year (FY 2026-27): City of Fort Walton Beach, Okaloosa County and NWFWMD adopted rates; School District rate as listed in the City of Destin's FY 2027 budget
Garbage: City of Fort Walton Beach Sanitation Division; Two garbage pickups a week as of Oct. 5, 2026, and weekly recycling and yard waste pickup; one 95-gallon garbage cart and one 95-gallon recycling cart
Sewer: City of Fort Walton Beach; A monthly base charge that includes the first 2,000 gallons, then a charge per 1,000 gallons; residential service is capped at 16,000 gallons
Electricity: Florida Power & Light (FPL); Residential Service (RS-1): $10.52 base charge a month plus per-kWh charges (October 2026)
Gas: Okaloosa Gas District; 2,276 of 5,451 owner-occupied homes in Fort Walton Beach heat with utility gas; 3,110 heat with electricity (Census ACS 2020-2024). Okaloosa Gas District residential rates from Oct. 1, 2026: $15.00 a month customer charge plus $1.2153 distribution and $0.5000 cost of gas per therm
Schools: Okaloosa County School District; 5.3270 mills (RLE+CIP): the proposed 2026 rate listed in the City of Destin's FY 2027 budget

Pay or manage your bills

Your water

Source: Eight deep wells drawing ground water from the Floridan Aquifer; the only treatments are aeration and chlorination.
Lead: June 2023 tap sampling: 90th percentile 1.7 ppb, and 0 of 30 sites exceeded the 15 ppb action level. The City's service line inventory found no lead, galvanized requiring replacement or lead status unknown service lines.
E. coli: In January 2025 one potable water sample tested positive for E. coli; the well was removed from service and purged, and samples on two consecutive days were free of E. coli.

Other FL cities

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How these numbers are made

Property tax uses 13.7379 mills in all for a home in the City of Fort Walton Beach: City of Fort Walton Beach 4.5600, Okaloosa County 3.8308, Okaloosa County School District 5.3270 and Northwest Florida Water Management District 0.0201, on assessed value after the $25,000 + $26,411 homestead exemptions. These are the four levies on the Property Appraiser's 2025 Fort Walton Beach district (004); city parcels do not pay the county's unincorporated MSTU.
No flat yearly charge is added to the tax bill: garbage and the stormwater fee are on the City utility bill, and fire service is part of the City budget. Charges for HOA dues, where they exist, are not included.
Water, sewer, garbage and stormwater use the City of Fort Walton Beach FY 2026-27 Comprehensive Fee Schedule (Resolution 2026-16, adopted Sept. 23, 2026; inside-city rates effective October 1, 2026; each rate cell lists the October 1, 2025 rate then the October 1, 2026 rate, and the 2025 figures match the FY 2025-26 schedule's residential column): water $14.17 a month including the first 2,000 gallons, then $4.23 / $5.17 / $7.76 per 1,000 gallons (2,001-4,000, 4,001-8,000, over 8,000), with the 10% utility tax on water charges added to each; sewer $32.27 a month including the first 2,000 gallons plus $10.15 per 1,000 gallons up to 16,000 gallons; garbage $29.12 a month ($21.78 garbage + $7.34 tipping), $18.23 more for a second container; stormwater $5.00 a month. The page starts at 3,700 gallons a month (about 4.9 CCF), the FY 2024 average monthly use per single-family account in the City's 2025 Revenue Sufficiency Study. Homes outside city limits pay a 25% water surcharge and are not covered.
The starting home value is the Census median value of owner-occupied units (all types, including condominiums) and is a market value; a long-held homestead's assessed value is often lower because of the Save Our Homes cap.
Electricity uses FPL's October 2026 residential rate RS-1 ($10.52 a month plus 12.719 cents per kWh up to 1,000 kWh and 14.719 cents above, including all per-kWh clauses and the 0.421-cent 2026 Transition Rider Charge for the former Gulf Power area, scheduled for 2022-2026 only) for every month of the year at EIA's 2024 Florida residential average of 1,104 kWh a month, plus the City's 10% public service tax on electricity (Florida Department of Revenue database). The City's budget also lists franchise revenue from Gulf Power (now FPL); its percentage on the bill could not be sourced and it is not included, nor is the state gross receipts tax. The 10% tax is applied here to the whole electric bill, so the tax figure is approximate: Florida law (s. 166.231(1)(b)) says the public service tax shall not be applied against any fuel adjustment charge, and at 1,104 kWh FPL's fuel charge is about $33 a month, so the tax shown is up to about $3.30 a month high.
Gas is left out of the total: about 42% of owner-occupied homes in the city (2,276 of 5,451, Census) heat with utility gas from Okaloosa Gas District. Those homes pay a gas bill on top of these figures: residential rates from Oct. 1, 2026 are $15.00 a month plus $1.7153 per therm ($1.2153 distribution + $0.5000 cost of gas), plus the City's 10% public service tax on gas. Flood insurance, a separate policy, is not included.
Nothing here is legal, tax or insurance advice.

Sources

How Fort Walton Beach compares

A typical Fort Walton Beach house against the 65 Florida cities we cover, using the same default numbers as the total above.

Per year	Fort Walton Beach	Median	Where it falls
Property tax rate	1.37%	1.80%	lower than 60 of the other 64 Florida cities we cover
Water	$282	$495	lower than 61 of the other 64 Florida cities we cover
Sewer and utility-bill fees	$654	$851	lower than 48 of the other 63 Florida cities we cover
Trash	$349	$368	lower than 37 of the other 61 Florida cities we cover
Electricity and gas	$2,020	$1,953	higher than 49 of the other 64 Florida cities we cover
Home insurance	$3,889	$3,733	higher than 32 of the other 63 Florida cities we cover
Total	$11,050	$13,141	lower than 60 of the other 64 Florida cities we cover

Cities bill differently (some put trash on the tax bill, some cover more services), so a higher number isn't necessarily worse. The property tax rate is compared instead of dollars because house values differ.

Questions to ask your candidates

Each one starts from a number above. Any candidate can answer them.

1. Property tax rate

The fact: Fort Walton Beach's property tax rate is 1.37%, lower than 60 of the other 64 Florida cities we cover. The rate adds up every agency on the bill, not only the city.

Ask: "Property tax in Fort Walton Beach is 1.37%, lower than 60 of the other 64 Florida cities we cover. What should that money pay for first, and would you change anything about how it is set?"

2. Water

The fact: Water here costs about $282 a year at typical use, lower than 61 of the other 64 Florida cities we cover.

Ask: "Water here costs about $282 a year at typical use, lower than 61 of the other 64 Florida cities we cover. What drives that cost, and would you change anything?"

3. Sewer and utility-bill fees

The fact: Sewer and flat utility-bill charges here come to about $654 a year, lower than 48 of the other 63 Florida cities we cover. Some cities bill sewer on the property tax bill instead, which is not counted here.

Ask: "Sewer and flat utility-bill charges here cost about $654 a year, lower than 48 of the other 63 Florida cities we cover. What drives that cost, and would you change anything?"

4. Electricity and gas

The fact: Electricity and gas for a typical house here cost about $2,020 a year, higher than 49 of the other 64 Florida cities we cover. Rates are set mostly by the utility and the state.

Ask: "Electricity and gas here cost about $2,020 a year for a typical house, higher than 49 of the other 64 Florida cities we cover. Which parts of that can the city influence, and what would you do about them?"

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Common questions about Fort Walton Beach house costs

What is the property tax rate in Fort Walton Beach?

About 1.37% of the value before exemptions a year (2026 tax year (FY 2026-27): City of Fort Walton Beach, Okaloosa County and NWFWMD adopted rates; School District rate as listed in the City of Destin's FY 2027 budget), plus flat charges on the same bill.

How much is property tax on a $500,000 house in Fort Walton Beach?

About $6,303 a year on $500,000 of the value before exemptions with the homestead exemption.

How much is the water bill in Fort Walton Beach?

About $78 a month for water and sewer at typical use (4,000 gallons a month) on City of Fort Walton Beach.

How much does trash pickup cost in Fort Walton Beach?

$29 to $47 a month, depending on the trash cart size (One 95-gallon garbage cart (recycling cart and yard waste pickup included), Two garbage carts (additional container rate)).

When is property tax due in Fort Walton Beach?

Mar 31: The gross property tax amount is due. Before May 1: Installment Plan application forms are due to the Tax Collector's office prior to May 1 (in the office or online).

How much does a house in Fort Walton Beach cost to run each year?

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