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Vote FOR the referendum Tuesday, November 3, 2026

On your Broward ballot

A quarter penny could save
your life.

Broward has the opportunity to get free heart and cancer screenings for every resident.

See what's on your ballot Watch the ads
#1

Heart disease is the number one killer in our community.

80%

Of heart attacks are preventable through early detection.

FREE

This referendum makes early detection testing free. It could save your life.

On your ballot

Here is the question. Here is what it means.

Real ballot language
Broward County · November 3, 2026Countywide

HEALTH CARE SERVICES, SUCH AS HEART AND CANCER SCREENINGS, FOR COUNTY RESIDENTS, FUNDED BY SURTAX

Read the full question

Shall Broward County fund health care for qualified residents, including (1) primary and preventive health care for residents who are indigent or medically poor, and (2) innovative, cost-effective programs such as heart and cancer screenings for County residents regardless of income, as described in a County health care plan, as periodically amended, by levying a 0.25% sales surtax for five years, subject to automatic repeal if a 1% infrastructure surtax is levied?

  • FOR THE 0.25 CENT TAX
  • AGAINST THE 0.25 CENT TAX

There is no "Yes" on this question. Fill in the oval next to FOR.

  1. Free heart and cancer screenings for Broward residents, regardless of income or insurance.
  2. Primary and preventive care for Broward residents who cannot afford it.
  3. Paid for by a quarter of a cent (0.25%) on the dollar, for five years. Then voters can choose to continue the program.

Where to find it

Near the end of your ballot, after the state amendments. The question is long and it uses the word "surtax." Read it once, then fill in the oval next to FOR THE 0.25 CENT TAX.

Placed on the ballot by a unanimous vote of the Broward County Commission.

The Broward Heart Project

Broward already tested this. Here is what it found.

In 2023 the County Commission put $10 million into the Broward Heart Project, the first program in the country to offer a free cardiac CT scan to residents with no symptoms of heart disease. Any Broward resident 45 to 70 with at least one risk factor could apply: high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, a history of smoking, or a family history of heart disease.

The scan, a coronary CT angiogram, takes a detailed picture of the arteries around the heart and finds the soft plaque that a stress test or an EKG misses. Results went to each patient and their doctor.

Between 2023 and 2025, more than 7,000 residents took the test. More than 4,000 of them learned they had a problem that needed treatment: medication, a catheterization, and in some cases open heart surgery. Almost all of them felt fine walking in. The pilot ran out of money in September 2025 and resumed that winter at Cleveland Clinic Weston Hospital with a $1 million gift from the Florida Panthers Foundation.

7,000+

Broward residents took the free heart scan.

4,000+

Of them found a problem that needed treatment. Almost all of them felt fine.

1st

County in the country to offer a free cardiac CT scan to residents with no symptoms.

What it costs

A quarter of a cent. Here is exactly what that means.

  • 25 cents on a $100 purchase. Broward's sales tax goes from 7 percent to 7.25 percent.
  • Not charged on groceries, prescription medicine, rent, mortgage payments, gas, insurance, or your water bill.
  • Five years, then it ends. The tax expires on its own. Renewing it would take another vote of the people.
  • About $120 million a year, spent on health care for Broward residents under the county's plan. Visitors and tourists pay it on what they buy here, too.

Watch

Sixty seconds. Two people who know.

Ten Minutes

His mother died of a heart attack with no symptoms and no warning. A heart scan would have found it, but insurance does not cover the test.

Mayor of Broward County Mark Bogen

Preventable

Half of all men and a third of women will develop symptoms of a heart attack. A cardiologist explains the scan that finds heart disease before you feel anything is wrong.

Claudio Smuclovisky, MD, FACC

The test

The test, explained.

Any Broward resident would get free access to the coronary CT angiogram.

The scan takes a detailed, three-dimensional picture of the arteries around your heart. It shows the hard, calcified plaque that older tests can sometimes catch, and the soft plaque they cannot. Soft plaque is what ruptures. That is why people with no symptoms, including runners and marathoners in the Broward pilot, walked in feeling fine and walked out with a treatment plan.

It is done in a single visit, with an IV contrast dye. Results go to you and your doctor. In the pilot, more than 4,000 people learned they needed care: medication, a catheterization, or open heart surgery.

What it is

A CT scan of the heart, done in one visit with an IV contrast dye, that shows the plaque in your arteries in three dimensions.

What it finds

Hard plaque and the soft plaque a stress test misses, before you feel a thing. Because the scan also shows the lungs, it can pick up problems beyond the heart.

Who it is for

The county program screens Broward residents 45 to 70 with at least one risk factor: high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, a history of smoking, or a family history of heart disease.

News coverage

What the press has reported.

Questions people ask

The details, in plain language.

Does it apply to groceries, rent, or my prescriptions?

No. The quarter cent is not charged on groceries, prescription medicine, rent, mortgage payments, gas, insurance, or your water bill. It applies to the same purchases the existing sales tax applies to.

How long does it last?

Five years. The tax ends on its own after that. Renewing it would take another vote of the people. It also ends automatically if the county ever levies a one percent infrastructure surtax.

Who would qualify for the free screenings?

The ballot question funds heart and cancer screenings for Broward residents regardless of income or insurance, and primary and preventive care for residents who cannot afford it. Today the county program screens Broward residents 45 to 70 with at least one risk factor. The county's health care plan sets the rules for the expanded program.

What does cancer have to do with a heart scan?

The ballot question funds cancer screenings alongside the heart screenings, because cancer is the county's second leading cause of death. Screening finds cancer at an early stage, before symptoms, when it is most treatable, the same way the heart scan finds a blockage before a heart attack. The county's health care plan sets which screenings are offered.

Where does the money go?

To the Broward County Health Care Plan, which the County Commission approves and reviews as it goes. State law limits this kind of surtax to health care for Broward residents.

Roughly $120 million a year. That is what a quarter of a cent on the dollar raises here, with visitors and tourists paying it on what they buy in Broward.

What if I want the scan now?

The county's program is taking applications from residents 45 to 70 with at least one risk factor at takehearttest.com. It is running on what remains of the original pilot budget and a foundation gift. The vote on November 3 decides whether it continues and expands to residents regardless of income or insurance.

Tuesday, November 3, 2026

Vote FOR the referendum.

On November 3, Broward voters decide whether to fund free heart and cancer screenings for every resident, and primary care for residents who cannot afford it, with a quarter of a cent on the dollar for five years. The question sits near the end of the ballot.

FOR THE 0.25 CENT TAX

  1. By mail

    Ballots go out September 24 to October 1. Request one by 5 p.m. Thursday, October 22. Return it so it arrives by 7 p.m. on Election Day, or use the secure drop box at an early-voting site during early-voting hours.

    Vote-by-mail information

  2. Early

    October 19 through November 1, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., at any Broward early-voting site.

    Early-voting sites and hours

  3. Election Day

    Tuesday, November 3, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., at your precinct.

    Find your precinct

Not registered yet? The deadline is Monday, October 5. Registration deadlines and how to register · Check your registration and ballot status