Clermont, FL Real Estate: Buying & Selling Guide (2026)

The short version: Clermont homes are recorded by the Lake County Property Appraiser and billed by the Lake County Tax Collector. The City adopted 4.2000 mills for 2026, down from 4.5900 in 2025, per the Property Appraiser’s final sheet dated October 9, 2026. The City says water, sewer, garbage and stormwater may come from the City entirely or partly, or from Lake County or a private utility, depending on where the home sits. Short-term rentals need a City application and a life-safety inspection. None of The Villages’ residential districts lists Clermont.

Clermont, FL at a glance

County	Lake County
History	Founded 1884; incorporated 1916, per the City
2026 city millage	4.2000 mills adopted4.5900 in 2025; 2026 rolled-back rate 4.3665; the proposed rate was 4.2900
Wellness Way levy	Charged in four Clermont mill groupsLake County’s Wellness Way MSTU: 0.4585 mills in 2025, 0.1454 adopted for 2026
City utility services	Water, irrigation (reclaimed) water, sewer, garbage and stormwaterAll or part of these, by address; some homes get service from Lake County or a private utility
Opening a utility account	$200 residential deposit and a $30 activation feeOwners show ID plus the deed or signed closing disclosure
Power and gas	Duke Energy, SECO Energy and Lake Apopka Natural Gas are the utilities on the City’s storm page
Fire protection	Clermont Fire Department, ISO Class 1Earned July 2020 and kept after an August 2025 reevaluation
Roads	The City maintains about 106 of roughly 405 paved milesCity count, April 2023; 187 miles are private
Vacation rentals	City application per unit, $375 fee and a life-safety inspection; renew by September 30
Villages district inside the city	None listed

From the City of Clermont’s utility, reuse, fire, road, permit, vacation rental and storm pages, the Lake County Property Appraiser’s 2026 final millage sheet, the Florida Department of Revenue’s 2025 Lake County table, Lake County’s floodplain page and the District Government’s district pages. Checked October 10, 2026.

City water, county water or a private utility

The City’s utility billing page is blunt about it: depending on where you live, water, sewer, garbage and stormwater may be provided by the City of Clermont entirely or partially, and some services come from Lake County or private utility companies. The City asks people to call Utility Billing to confirm what it serves at an address. Clermont also has an online city-limits lookup, because a Clermont mailing address does not settle the question either.

Where the City does serve a home, its water page says the water comes from the Floridan Aquifer through eight wells. Its reuse page adds a detail worth checking on any newer house: purple irrigation pipe was installed in many newer subdivisions in anticipation of reclaimed water service in the future. Purple pipe in the yard does not prove reclaimed water is flowing, so look at the bill for an irrigation line.

New owners open an account with ID and the deed or signed closing disclosure. The residential deposit is $200, and a $30 activation fee lands on the first bill.
Water and irrigation charges carry a 5% utility tax. Garbage and stormwater are flat monthly charges.
An owner leaving a house empty for more than 30 days can ask the City to lock the meter. Water and sewer charges stop, but garbage and stormwater keep billing, and turning service back on costs $30.
If a disconnected account stays unpaid, the City says a lien notice follows and eventually a lien is filed with the county. Settle the final bill at closing.

The same page tells new owners to check irrigation timers, which are often left set to water every day. The City limits irrigation to no more than twice a week in spring and summer and once a week in fall and winter.

The 2026 tax line, and the Wellness Way levy

The Property Appraiser’s final sheet shows Clermont at 4.5900 mills in 2025, a 2026 rolled-back rate of 4.3665, a proposed 4.2900 and an adopted 4.2000. That is 8.50% below last year’s rate and 3.81% below rolled-back, while taxable value in the city rose 10.63%. The City’s July 30, 2026 announcement called it the second year in a row the Council approved a lower proposed rate.

The state’s 2025 Lake County table shows what else rides on a Clermont bill. In 2025 a Clermont parcel totaled 16.6766 mills: the county general fund, the ambulance levy, voted debt, the school levies, the Lake County Water Authority, the St. Johns River Water Management District and the city rate. Unincorporated parcels instead pay the county fire rescue/EMS levy (0.4800 for 2026) and the stormwater levy (0.4957), and the table says neither applies inside Clermont. So for 2026 a Clermont parcel pays about 3.22 mills more than an unincorporated parcel with the same other levies, by my arithmetic, or roughly $806 a year on $250,000 of taxable value.

One more line to read on the parcel record: the same table says the Wellness Way levy applies to four Clermont mill groups (OP0C, WW0C, WR0C and PT0C) as well as an unincorporated area. It was 0.4585 mills in 2025, and the Property Appraiser’s sheet shows it cut to 0.1454 for 2026.

A Class 1 fire rating

The City’s fire department received an ISO Class 1 Public Protection Classification in July 2020 and kept it after a reevaluation in August 2025. ISO’s scale runs from 1 to 10, and the City notes the rating is one of the factors insurers use for fire insurance on individual properties. The department lists four stations and a temporary fifth. Ask your insurance agent to quote the actual address rather than assume what the rating will do to the premium.

Whose road is it

In an April 2023 count, the City said it owns and maintains about 106 of an estimated 405 miles of paved roads in Clermont. Lake County owns 72 miles, including Hancock Road, Hartwood Marsh Road and Citrus Tower Boulevard, and the Florida Department of Transportation about 40, including SR 50 and US 27. The remaining 187 miles are private, usually inside gated communities, where the owner pays for upkeep and part of the association dues often goes to road repair.

For a buyer, that changes the document list. In a gated community with private streets, the association’s budget and reserves are where repaving shows up. On a county or state road, the City cannot fix the pothole.

Short-term rentals need a City file

The City’s vacation rental page permits short-term rentals only for non-occupied, whole-house single-family and duplex units inside city limits, with an application for each unit. The owner needs proof of ownership, the right state license from the Department of Business and Professional Regulation, a Florida Department of Revenue registration, a building permit application for a life-safety inspection with a labeled floor sketch, and a $375 fee. Every vacation rental must be renewed by September 30. If you are buying with rental income in mind, check the community’s own recorded rules as well; the City’s permission does not override them.

Permits and flood maps

Clermont’s permit page lists the work that does not need a permit inside a home: painting, flooring or tile, replacing existing plumbing or light fixtures, and rescreening. Building, enlarging, altering, repairing, moving or demolishing a structure, or installing or replacing electrical, gas, mechanical or plumbing systems or impact-resistant coverings, needs a permit first. The City enforces the 2023 (8th edition) Florida Building Code with no local amendments.

For flood status, the City’s flood zone page notes that FEMA updated the Lake County maps in 2012 and points owners who think their structure was mapped in error to a Letter of Map Amendment. Lake County’s floodplain section keeps an elevation certificate finder and offers its 1978 Clermont/Minneola drainage plan among its basin studies. Its Community Rating System discount, 15% in high-risk zones, is earned on behalf of unincorporated homeowners, so an agent should not assume it applies inside the city. Lakefront homes on the Chain of Lakes deserve the flood zone check first, and every seller owes the Florida flood disclosure.

How I’d price and sell a Clermont home

Read the parcel’s mill group.
City or county, Wellness Way or not, from the Property Appraiser record and the Tax Collector bill.
Name every utility provider.
City, county or private for water, sewer, irrigation water and garbage, plus the power company, with a year of bills.
Check the road and the association.
Private gated streets mean the association’s budget belongs in the buyer packet.
Compare like with like.
Same utility setup, same tax line, lakefront against lakefront, resale against resale before new construction.
Price from your net.
The seller net sheet turns a list price into the number you keep.

Buying from another state

1007 Rockville Pl, The Villages: closed at $315,000.

My out-of-state buyers closed on April 30, 2026. The house is in The Villages, not Clermont, but the remote steps are the ones I use for a buyer relocating to south Lake County. How that purchase worked.

Questions people ask about Clermont, FL

What is the Clermont city millage for 2026?

The City of Clermont adopted 4.2000 mills for 2026, down from 4.5900 in 2025, according to the Lake County Property Appraiser’s final millage sheet dated October 9, 2026. The rolled-back rate was 4.3665. The city rate is added to county, school, water authority and water management district levies.

Does the City of Clermont provide water and sewer to every home?

No. The City says water, sewer, garbage and stormwater may be provided by the City entirely or partially depending on the address, and some services come from Lake County or private utility companies. Call the City’s Utility Billing office to confirm what it serves at a specific address.

Can I use a Clermont home as a vacation rental?

Inside city limits, the City permits vacation rentals in non-occupied, whole-house single-family and duplex units. Each unit needs a City application, a state license, a Florida Department of Revenue registration, a life-safety inspection and a $375 fee, and must be renewed by September 30 each year. Community rules can still restrict rentals.

Who maintains the roads in Clermont?

In an April 2023 count, the City said it maintains about 106 of roughly 405 miles of paved roads. Lake County owns about 72 miles, including Hancock Road, Hartwood Marsh Road and Citrus Tower Boulevard, the state about 40 miles, including SR 50 and US 27, and about 187 miles are private roads maintained by their owners.

Is Clermont part of The Villages?

No. None of The Villages’ residential district pages lists Clermont. The District Government places The Villages’ Lake County areas in Fruitland Park, Leesburg and the Town of Lady Lake plus part of unincorporated Lake County.

Sources

Checked October 10, 2026. The 2026 rates come from the Property Appraiser’s final sheet and the levy mix from the state’s 2025 table; I confirm the parcel’s own bill, utility providers and permits before anything goes in a listing or an offer.

Next step

Selling or buying in Clermont?

Send the address. I’ll confirm the mill group, who supplies each utility and the flood file, then tell you what I’d list it at or offer.

Get my home’s value → Book a 15-min call

Mo Mufti, REALTOR® · LPT Realty, LLC · 352-298-8602 · [email protected]

Clermont, FL: find out who serves the address before you price it.