Florida Amendment 3: What the 2026 Property Tax Amendment Actually Does

Amendment 3 does four separate things: it raises the homestead exemption that applies to non-school property taxes, it leaves the school portion of your bill alone, it cuts the annual assessment cap on non-homestead property from 10% to 5%, and it limits what counties and cities may spend property tax revenue on. It takes effect January 1, 2027 if at least 60% of voters approve it on November 3, 2026.

Your Florida property tax bill has two buckets. There is school district millage and there is everything else (county, municipal, and special district). Amendment 3 touches the "everything else" bucket almost exclusively. School taxes keep coming.

How the homestead exemption changes

Today a Florida homestead gets $25,000 off all millage including schools, plus a second exemption of $26,411 that applies only to non-school millage, and only to assessed value above $50,000. That second number is the CPI-adjusted figure the Florida Department of Revenue certified for 2026. Total: $51,411, of which only $25,000 helps on school taxes.

Amendment 3 replaces that second band. It does not stack on top of it. The enrolled joint resolution strikes the old "greater than fifty thousand dollars and up to seventy-five thousand dollars" language and substitutes a new tiered non-school exemption. The result is $25,000 against school millage plus up to $150,000 or $250,000 against non-school millage, not $51,411 plus $150,000.

	Current law (2026)	If Amendment 3 passes
Homestead exemption, school millage	$25,000	$25,000, unchanged
Homestead exemption, non-school millage	$25,000 plus $26,411 (second band applies only above $50,000 of assessed value)	Up to $150,000 on Jan 1, 2027; up to $250,000 on Jan 1, 2028
Inflation indexing	The $26,411 band is CPI-adjusted annually	The $250,000 tier is CPI-adjusted beginning Jan 1, 2029
New residents (not a FL resident on Dec 31, 2026)	Same exemption as everyone else	$25,000 school plus $50,000 non-school, stepping up later; the $50,000 is CPI-adjusted beginning Jan 1, 2028
Non-homestead assessment cap, non-school levies	10% per year	5% per year beginning Jan 1, 2027
Non-homestead assessment cap, school levies	No cap, assessed at just value	No cap, unchanged
Save Our Homes cap on homesteads	Lower of 3% or CPI	Unchanged
Portability of the Save Our Homes differential	$500,000 max, three-year lookback	Unchanged

What that is worth in dollars

Against non-school millage only, the net new exempt value is about $98,589 in 2027 ($150,000 minus the $51,411 you already have) and roughly $198,589 in 2028. The Pinellas County Property Appraiser ran those numbers against the 2025 countywide aggregate average non-school rate of 12.2011 mills and estimated savings of approximately $1,203 in 2027 and $2,423 in 2028 for a homestead large enough to use the full exemption.

Two caveats on that math. The 2028 figure assumes the $26,411 tier is frozen at its 2026 value; it is CPI-indexed, so the real 2028 counterfactual delta is closer to $197,000 to $198,000. And against school millage the change is zero. Your savings depend on your own assessed value and your own taxing authorities' non-school millage. Run your own numbers with your county property appraiser.

The new-resident rule

If you did not maintain a permanent residence in Florida as of December 31, 2026, you get a smaller version: $25,000 against school levies and up to $50,000 against non-school levies. Then you step up to the full amount.

The ballot and the joint resolution do not describe the same clock. The summary printed on the ballot says the increased exemption begins "with the fifth year of exemption, to the extent permitted by the U.S. Constitution," and the constitutional text matches it: "beginning with the fifth year of exemption under this subparagraph." The ballot summary written into the enrolled CS/HJR 1F says something different, requiring a person who establishes Florida residency after January 1, 2027 to "maintain Florida residency for five years prior to receiving the increased homestead exemption." Those are not the same clock. Years of exemption start when you qualify for homestead. Residency starts when you move. The Pinellas appraiser reads it as the exemption clock, writing that after maintaining a Florida homestead exemption for four years the owner becomes eligible for the larger exemption on January 1 of the fifth year. That conflict is live and is the subject of the ballot-language litigation. The step-up amount is also the CPI-adjusted figure from 2029 forward, not a frozen $250,000.

Two more details. The ballot summary hedges the entire provision with "to the extent permitted by the U.S. Constitution." And beginning January 1, 2030, a county or municipality may shorten the five-year wait by a two-thirds vote of its governing body for a "critical local need."

The 5% non-homestead cap

Amendment 3 cuts the annual assessment-increase cap on non-homestead property from 10% to 5%, effective January 1, 2027. The change is written into two places in Article VII, Section 4: subsection (g), covering residential property of nine units or fewer not already under Save Our Homes, and subsection (h), covering all other non-homestead real property. Both open with "For all levies other than school district levies."

Rentals, second homes, land, and commercial property get a tighter cap on the county and city side, and remain completely uncapped for school millage, assessed at just value every year. The Manatee County Property Appraiser puts the key limitation plainly: going from 10% to 5% "only caps assessed value, not taxes." Millage rates are set separately by each taxing authority and can rise. A capped assessment is not a capped bill.

What does not change

Save Our Homes survives intact. Homestead assessment increases stay capped at the lower of 3% or the CPI change. Portability stays at a $500,000 maximum transferable differential with the three-year lookback.

One warning about secondhand summaries: the House staff analysis contains a line saying the new exemption "would apply to all ad valorem taxes." The constitutional text and the ballot summary both contradict that. Trust the text.

The spending restriction and the local-option path

A new Article VII, Section 9(a)(2) limits county and municipal ad valorem revenue to seven enumerated uses: public safety, education and schools, infrastructure, natural resources, bond debt service, employee retirement benefits, and operations and administration. Other expenditures may be approved by county officers or governing bodies unless prohibited by general law, which makes the last category a broad catch-all.

The amendment also requires the Legislature to prescribe a uniform procedure letting counties and municipalities raise the homestead exemption up to full assessed value, and lets special districts do the same subject to referendum, no more than once in a 12-month period, with optional CPI indexing. There is no automatic elimination schedule in the text. The "schedule for full elimination" language from the original draft summary is gone. What remains is a pathway local governments could choose to use without another statewide vote.

When you would actually see it

Date	What happens
November 3, 2026	Vote. Needs 60% approval
January 1, 2027	Amendment takes effect; $150,000 non-school exemption and 5% cap apply
August 2027	First TRIM notice reflecting the change
November 2027	First tax bill reflecting the change
January 1, 2028	Exemption rises to $250,000; new-resident $50,000 tier begins CPI indexing
January 1, 2029	$250,000 tier begins CPI indexing
January 1, 2030	Local governments may shorten the new-resident wait by two-thirds vote

On the other side of the ledger, the Revenue Estimating Conference projects local non-school property tax revenue impacts of negative $4.95 billion in FY 2027-28, negative $8.78 billion in FY 2028-29, and a recurring impact of negative $11.86 billion. No financial impact statement appears on the ballot, because legislatively referred amendments are not required to carry one.

I am a broker, not your CPA or your attorney. Confirm your own numbers with your county property appraiser and your tax professional before you make a decision based on them.

The biggest misunderstanding I hear about Amendment 3: an exemption cuts your taxable value, not your tax bill. A $150,000 exemption does not take $150,000 off what you owe. It takes $150,000 off the number your millage rate gets multiplied against. One mill equals $1 of tax per $1,000 of taxable value, so $150,000 of exempt value at Pinellas County's 12.2011-mill average non-school rate is worth roughly $1,830, not $150,000.

Start With the Right Baseline

Amendment 3 does not stack on your current exemption. It replaces the second band. Here is the before and after:

	Against school millage	Against all other millage (county, city, special district)
Today (2026)	$25,000	$51,411 total ($25,000 plus the CPI-adjusted $26,411)
2027, if it passes	$25,000 (unchanged)	up to $150,000
2028, if it passes	$25,000 (unchanged)	up to $250,000

So the new exempt value you actually gain against non-school millage is about $98,589 in 2027 and about $198,589 in 2028, not the headline $150,000 and $250,000. Against school millage, the change is zero. School taxes stay on your bill exactly as they are now.

One refinement on the 2028 figure: it assumes the current $26,411 tier stays frozen at its 2026 value. That tier is CPI-indexed, so the true 2028 gain lands closer to $197,000 to $198,000.

Real Numbers at Real Home Values

The Pinellas County Property Appraiser published the cleanest public math on this, using the 2025 countywide aggregate average non-school rate of 12.2011 mills. I ran that same rate across a few assessed values. These are the non-school portion only.

Assessed value	New exempt value, 2027	Est. 2027 savings	New exempt value, 2028	Est. 2028 savings
$120,000	$68,589	about $837	$68,589	about $837
$200,000	$98,589	about $1,203	$148,589	about $1,813
$300,000	$98,589	about $1,203	$198,589	about $2,423
$500,000	$98,589	about $1,203	$198,589	about $2,423

Three things the table shows:

1. The 2027 benefit is flat for anyone assessed at or above $150,000. Everybody in that group gets the same $98,589 of new exempt value and the same dollar savings. A $500,000 home does not save more than a $300,000 home.
2. Lower assessed homes hit the ceiling. You cannot exempt value you do not have. At $120,000 assessed, the 2027 exemption already wipes out your entire non-school taxable value, so 2028 adds nothing further.
3. The 2028 step up is where the real money is, and only homes assessed at or above $250,000 capture the full $198,589.

Three Caveats Before You Spend It

That is assessed value, not market value. If you have held your homestead for years, Save Our Homes has kept your assessed value well below what the house would sell for. Amendment 3 does not change Save Our Homes. Pull your actual assessed value off your TRIM notice, not your Zillow estimate.

Your millage is not Pinellas' millage. 12.2011 mills is one county's 2025 average. Your county, city, and special district rates are different, and taxing authorities set them every year. Nothing in Amendment 3 stops a millage rate from going up. A bigger exemption against a higher rate can net out smaller than the table suggests.

Non-ad valorem lines do not move. CDD fees, fire assessments, solid waste, and stormwater are flat charges, not value-based taxes. The exemption does not touch them, and they can be raised or newly adopted.

When You Would Feel It

Nothing changes on your 2026 bill. If voters approve it, the amendment takes effect January 1, 2027, first appears on your August 2027 TRIM notice, and first shows up on a tax bill delivered in November 2027.

One honest limit on all of this: the amendment itself requires the Legislature to prescribe a uniform procedure for counties and municipalities to administer and further raise the exemption, and that procedure does not exist yet. Run your own figures off your assessed value and your own non-school millage, then confirm them with your county property appraiser or your CPA before you plan around the savings.

If voters approve Amendment 3 and you were not maintaining a permanent residence in Florida on December 31, 2026, you do not get the headline exemption when you buy. You get $25,000 against school taxes and up to $50,000 against everything else, and you wait until the fifth year of exemption to step up to the larger number. Anyone who was already a Florida resident on that date goes to up to $150,000 in 2027 and up to $250,000 in 2028.

The trigger sits in the constitutional text, not in a regulation someone can soften later. The reduced exemption applies to a person "who had not maintained a permanent residence in this state as of December 31, 2026." It is a one-time snapshot. Nothing you do in 2027 moves you across that line.

What each group actually gets

Tax year	Florida resident on Dec 31, 2026	Not a Florida resident on Dec 31, 2026
2027	Up to $150,000 non-school	Up to $50,000 non-school
2028	Up to $250,000 non-school	Up to $50,000, CPI-adjusted starting Jan 1, 2028
2029 and after	$250,000 tier, CPI-adjusted starting Jan 1, 2029	Still the $50,000 tier until the fifth year of exemption
Fifth year of exemption	Not applicable	Steps up to the $250,000 tier as CPI-adjusted

The school column is the same for everybody, every year: $25,000, unchanged from current law. Amendment 3 does not touch the school portion of anyone's bill.

Against non-school millage, today's homestead exemption is $51,411 ($25,000 plus the CPI-adjusted $26,411 second band). A new resident's $50,000 lands just under that. For your first four years as a new Floridian, Amendment 3 is close to a wash against non-school millage, not a cut and not the windfall in the headline.

Who this actually hits

• Buyers relocating to Florida in 2027 or later. Nearly every out-of-state buyer I work with next year lands here. Same house, same street, same millage as the neighbor, and a materially higher tax bill for four years.
• Snowbirds converting a second home to a primary residence. Owning Florida property is not the same as maintaining a permanent residence here. If your domicile is still New York or Ohio on December 31, 2026, the text reads against you even though you have held the Florida house for years. Confirm your exact standing with your county property appraiser before you assume anything.
• Recent arrivals who have not nailed down permanent residence yet. If you landed in 2026 and have not established permanent residence, the clock matters. That is a conversation to have now, not in March.
• Not hit: existing Florida residents who sell and buy again later in Florida. The test is residency on December 31, 2026, not the specific house. Portability is unchanged at a $500,000 maximum transferable Save Our Homes differential with the three-year lookback.

What the four-year wait is worth

Pinellas County's property appraiser prices the full exemption using the 2025 countywide aggregate average non-school rate of 12.2011 mills, which produces about $1,203 of 2027 savings and $2,423 in 2028 for a homestead getting the full benefit.

Run the gap at that same rate. The $100,000 difference in exempt value in 2027 is roughly $1,220, and the $200,000 difference in 2028 is roughly $2,440. Both tiers then index for inflation on different schedules, the $250,000 tier beginning January 1, 2029 and the $50,000 tier beginning January 1, 2028. Four years of that is real money on a Hillsborough or Pinellas closing statement. Your actual number depends on your county and city millage, so treat these as scale, not a quote.

The parts that are not settled

Three caveats.

First, the ballot summary voters will read says the increase begins "with the fifth year of exemption." The Legislature's enrolled joint resolution described the same rule as five years of Florida residency. The constitutional text keys entry into the reduced tier to residency on December 31, 2026, then runs the clock on years of exemption. The Pinellas property appraiser reads it as four years of homestead exemption, with the larger exemption starting January 1 of the fifth year. That conflict is live and part of the pending ballot-language litigation.

Second, the ballot summary hedges the whole rule with "to the extent permitted by the U.S. Constitution." That phrase limits the five-year wait to whatever federal law allows, which leaves it open to challenge.

Third, beginning January 1, 2030, a county or municipality may shorten the waiting period by a two-thirds vote of its governing body for a "critical local need." That is a local political decision, not a guarantee.

Nothing here is tax or legal advice. Verify your residency date and exemption status with your county property appraiser, and run the dollar impact past your CPA before you plan around it.

If you own Florida property you do not live in, Amendment 3 gives you one thing: the annual cap on assessment increases drops from 10% to 5%, for all levies other than school district levies, beginning January 1, 2027. You get no piece of the bigger homestead exemption. That is reserved for homesteaded primary residences.

The cap change is written into two separate places in Article VII, Section 4 of the Florida Constitution, and both read identically: "a. Before January 1, 2027, ten percent (10%). b. Beginning January 1, 2027, five percent (5%)."

Subsection	What it covers
Art. VII s.4(g)	Residential real property, as defined by general law, containing nine units or fewer, that is not already under Save Our Homes
Art. VII s.4(h)	All other non-homestead real property: commercial, large multifamily, vacant land, second homes

A duplex, a fourplex, a small apartment building, a snowbird condo, a commercial strip center, and a raw lot all land under the 5% cap. Different subsections, same number.

What does the 5% cap not do?

It does not touch school taxes. For school district levies, non-homestead property stays completely uncapped and is assessed at just, or market, value every year. Current law's 10% cap already excluded school levies, and CS/HJR 1F preserves that exclusion.

It caps value, not taxes. The Manatee County Property Appraiser puts it plainly: the change "from 10% to 5% only caps assessed value, not taxes." Millage rates are set separately by each taxing authority and can rise. A capped assessment with a raised millage still produces a higher bill.

It does nothing to non-ad valorem assessments. CDD fees, fire, solid waste, and stormwater line items are not ad valorem taxes, so Amendment 3 does not reach them. They can still rise, or be newly adopted, no matter what happens on the ballot.

Nothing shows up until the August 2027 TRIM notice and the tax bill delivered in November 2027.

Does the cost shift to renters?

The Revenue Estimating Conference projects local non-school property tax revenue falling by $4.95 billion in FY 2027 to 2028 and $8.78 billion in FY 2028 to 2029, with a recurring impact of $11.86 billion. Critics argue that hole gets filled somewhere, and that renters and non-homesteaded owners are the ones holding the bag.

The mechanisms opponents point to:

• Fees instead of taxes. Homebuilders warn the gap gets backfilled with impact fees, permit fees, mobility fees, and water and sewer connection fees, which raise the cost of new construction and get passed into the price of new homes and new rentals.
• Affordable housing supply. The Tax Foundation warns that income-restricted and affordable housing development "could decline as the capacity to raise rent is restricted, thereby reducing any return on investment."
• No new homestead relief for rentals. Every dollar of exemption growth goes to owner-occupants. A landlord's only benefit is slower assessed-value growth on the non-school portion of the bill.

What do supporters say back?

Governor DeSantis has rebutted the renters critique directly, saying there is nothing in the amendment stating renters will pay more, calling the criticism "a fundamental misunderstanding of what it actually does," and pointing out that the measure lowers the assessment-growth cap on non-homesteaded property, the exact class most rentals fall into. Under current law a landlord absorbs up to 10% assessed growth a year. Beginning January 1, 2027, that ceiling is half as high, and in a fast-appreciating year that is real money that does not have to be passed through.

There is also a supply argument. Shelton Weeks, director of the Lucas Institute for Real Estate and Finance at Florida Gulf Coast University, says the tax relief could pull buyers into Florida rather than push them away, reversing recent outmigration driven by insurance and tax costs. Florida Realtors CEO Margy Grant has declined to predict a price spike, saying "The cost of home is economically driven. It's a supply and demand conversation, and when inventory increases, prices stabilize."

Both sides are forecasting. Neither has an actual tax bill in hand.

Where does this leave you?

If you own a rental or a second home, run the math on the non-school portion of your bill only, assume your school portion keeps tracking market value, and assume your CDD and fire assessments do what they were always going to do. If you rent, the effect on your rent depends on your landlord's full cost stack, including insurance and fees, not on this one line in the constitution.

I can pull your current assessed value, just value, and millage breakdown for any Tampa Bay parcel if you want to see the actual numbers. For how the cap will be administered on your specific property, confirm with your county property appraiser, and take the tax treatment of any investment decision to your CPA. The ballot summary also requires the Legislature to prescribe a uniform procedure for counties and municipalities to raise the exemption further, and that procedure has to be written before anyone can use it.

Sources: Enrolled CS/HJR 1F constitutional text | House staff analysis, fiscal estimates | Manatee County Property Appraiser FAQ | Pinellas County Property Appraiser FAQ | Tax Foundation analysis | Jax Daily Record, impact fees | Miami Times, DeSantis response | WPTV, Weeks and Grant

Amendment 3 reached the ballot out of the June 2026 special session, passing the House 75 to 26 and the Senate 30 to 9 as CS/HJR 1F. Because it is a joint resolution, the Governor had no veto to exercise. Here is each side at its strongest.

The case for

Who is making it: Gov. Ron DeSantis, Senate President Ben Albritton, House Speaker Daniel Perez, sponsor Rep. Overdorf, companion sponsor Sen. Avila, and Sen. Don Gaetz.

• The homeowner savings are large and automatic. Against non-school millage, a homestead picks up roughly $98,589 in additional exempt value in 2027 and roughly $197,000 to $198,000 in 2028 compared to today's $51,411. The Pinellas County Property Appraiser puts that at about $1,203 in 2027 and $2,423 in 2028 at the 2025 countywide average non-school rate of 12.2011 mills. Homeowners who already have homestead do not file anything new.
• It is not only a homeowner bill. The non-homestead assessment cap drops from 10% to 5% for small rental properties of nine units or fewer and for commercial and second-home property, which supporters say reaches landlords and small businesses. DeSantis has rebutted the renters argument, calling it "a fundamental misunderstanding of what it actually does" and pointing to that lower cap.
• Local budgets have grown. Gaetz described the run-up in local government revenue as "the days of milk and honey," and the amendment constitutionally channels county and municipal property tax revenue into seven enumerated core needs including public safety, schools, infrastructure, natural resources, bond debt service, and employee retirement.
• Let voters decide. Albritton's special session memo framed it as a trust-the-voters question. Perez said he was "proud of the opportunity that we are giving the voters."
• Existing protections stay in place. Save Our Homes stays at 3% or CPI, whichever is lower, and portability stays at $500,000 with a three-year lookback.
• It may pull buyers in, not push them out. Shelton Weeks of the Lucas Institute for Real Estate and Finance at Florida Gulf Coast University says the relief could attract buyers and reverse outmigration driven by insurance and tax costs.

The case against

Who is making it: the Florida Sheriffs Association, Florida State Fraternal Order of Police, Florida Professional Firefighters, Florida AFL-CIO, League of Women Voters, Florida Library Association, APA Florida, Sierra Club Florida, the Florida League of Cities, the Palm Beach County League of Cities, the Florida Association of Special Districts, Miami-Dade Sheriff Rosie Cordero-Stutz, Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan, former Republican state Sen. Jeff Brandes, and Democratic gubernatorial nominee David Jolly.

• The revenue hole is not small. The Revenue Estimating Conference projects local non-school property tax losses of $4.95 billion in FY 2027-28, $8.78 billion in FY 2028-29, and a recurring $11.86 billion. No financial impact statement appears on the ballot, because legislatively referred amendments are not required to carry one.
• "Public safety" is listed, not protected. Brandes points out that the spending clause does not prioritize or guarantee public safety funding. It names eligible uses; it does not set floors.
• The promised state backstop is not in writing. DeSantis has pledged a backstop and targeted grants for fiscally constrained counties, but opponents note that no recurring state funding source appears in the enabling legislation.
• The door to full elimination opens without another statewide vote. The amendment requires the Legislature to prescribe a uniform procedure for counties and municipalities to raise the exemption up to full assessed value, and lets special districts do the same by referendum. The Florida Policy Institute reads that as a pathway to eliminating the non-school homestead property tax administratively.
• The ballot language has already failed judicial review once. Leon County Circuit Judge David Frank ruled on August 4, 2026 that the original title was "more akin to a political slogan" and "not fair or neutral," and that the summary "defectively omits at least one material fact." The Attorney General rewrote it. The summary voters will read says new residents must maintain residency for five years; the constitutional text says the step-up comes in the fifth year of exemption. Those are not the same test.
• Costs may reappear elsewhere. Homebuilders warn that the gap gets backfilled with impact fees, permit fees, mobility fees, and water and sewer connection fees. The Tax Foundation warns that income-restricted and affordable housing development "could decline as the capacity to raise rent is restricted."

Head to head

Question	Supporters say	Opponents say
Size of the cut	About $1,203 in 2027 and $2,423 in 2028 on a Pinellas homestead	Those savings are the same dollars as an $11.86 billion recurring local revenue loss
Police and fire	Public safety is the first enumerated use of property tax revenue	Listing a use is not funding it; sheriffs, FOP, and firefighters all oppose
Renters	The non-homestead cap drops from 10% to 5%, which reaches rental property	The 5% cap limits assessed value, not millage, and excludes school levies entirely
New residents	A five-year wait protects longtime Floridians	The U.S. Constitution hedge in the summary signals the drafters expect a federal challenge
Local control	Cities and counties can still approve other spending, and may raise the exemption further	A uniform state procedure to zero out non-school homestead tax removes local budget authority
Ballot language	The court-ordered rewrite fixed the problem	The corrected summary still conflicts with the operative constitutional text

What both sides concede

The 5% cap limits assessed value growth, not tax bills, because millage rates are set separately and can rise. The increased exemption does not touch non-ad valorem line items such as CDD, fire, solid waste, and stormwater assessments, which can be raised or newly adopted. School taxes do not change at all: the $25,000 school exemption is untouched, and non-homestead property stays uncapped for school millage. The Pinellas County Property Appraiser is clear that exact savings cannot be stated yet, because administration depends on implementing legislation the Legislature has not passed. Passage requires 60% of voters under Art. XI, s.5(e) of the Florida Constitution.

Confirm how any of this applies to your own parcel with your county property appraiser, and run the tax math past your CPA.

Nothing changes on a contract you sign today. Amendment 3 has not passed. It needs approval from at least 60% of voters on November 3, 2026, it takes effect January 1, 2027 if it does pass, and it would not show up until the August 2027 TRIM notice and the tax bill delivered in November 2027 (House staff analysis, CS/HJR 1F). One date inside it has real planning consequences, December 31, 2026, and it only matters to people who are not Florida residents yet.

Your situation	What would change	What would not change
Already homesteaded in Tampa Bay	Non-school exemption goes to up to $150,000 in 2027 and up to $250,000 in 2028, replacing today's $51,411 structure	School taxes, Save Our Homes, portability, and non-ad valorem assessments like CDD, fire, and stormwater
Moving to Florida from out of state	You would get $25,000 school plus up to $50,000 non-school, with the larger exemption delayed	Your ability to buy, close, or homestead on the normal timeline
Buying a rental, second home, or non-homestead property	Annual assessed value growth cap drops from 10% to 5% on non-school levies	School levies stay uncapped at just value every year, and millage rates stay free to rise
Selling	Nothing about your proceeds or your Save Our Homes portability	Buyers will ask about it anyway, so have the real answer

Why December 31, 2026 is the only date that matters

The constitutional text draws the line at whether a person "had not maintained a permanent residence in this state as of December 31, 2026" (enrolled CS/HJR 1F). Land on the wrong side of it and your homestead exemption is $25,000 against school levies plus up to $50,000 against everything else, instead of the $150,000 and then $250,000 non-school exemption existing residents get. That is a real gap, and it is the one thing an out-of-state buyer should ask about.

Here is why I still would not rearrange a relocation around it:

• It binds nothing unless 60% of voters approve it.
• The language describing the waiting period does not match itself. The rewritten ballot summary voters will see says the increase starts "beginning with the fifth year of exemption, to the extent permitted by the U.S. Constitution" (Department of State). The summary carried in the enrolled joint resolution framed it as five years of Florida residency (enrolled CS/HJR 1F). Years of residency and years of exemption are two different clocks, and that conflict is unresolved.
• Ballot language here has already been litigated once. On August 4, 2026, Leon County Circuit Judge David Frank ruled the original title and summary defective, called the title "more akin to a political slogan" that "is not fair or neutral," and ordered the Attorney General to submit corrected language within 10 days (Division of Elections).
• The delayed exemption for new residents applies only "to the extent permitted by the U.S. Constitution," a condition written into the ballot summary itself (Department of State).
• Beginning January 1, 2030, a county or municipality can shorten the wait by a two-thirds vote of its governing body for a "critical local need" (enrolled CS/HJR 1F).

Establishing Florida permanent residence is its own legal test, and it is not the same thing as closing on a house in December. Confirm what qualifies, and by when, with your county property appraiser before you move a closing date for tax reasons.

Sellers: your numbers run the same way they always did

Save Our Homes is untouched. The 3% or CPI cap, whichever is lower, survives intact, and portability keeps its $500,000 maximum transferable differential and its three-year lookback (enrolled CS/HJR 1F). A move-up or move-down seller runs the exact same math this year as last year.

What changes is the conversation. Buyers are hearing savings figures. The Pinellas County Property Appraiser estimates roughly $1,203 in 2027 and $2,423 in 2028 for a homestead receiving the full exemption, built on the 2025 countywide aggregate average non-school rate of 12.2011 mills (PCPAO). That is one county, one millage assumption, and a projection, and it applies to the non-school portion of the bill only. It does not belong in a listing description.

Investors and second home buyers

The non-homestead cap drops from 10% to 5% in two places, covering residential property of nine units or fewer and all other non-homestead real property, and both apply only to levies other than school district levies (enrolled CS/HJR 1F). For school millage, non-homestead property stays completely uncapped and gets assessed at just value every year. The cap also limits assessed value growth, not the tax bill. Millage rates are set separately by each taxing authority and can rise, so a capped assessment does not guarantee a capped bill.

What I have clients verify before they sign

1. The school portion of the current tax bill. It does not move. The $25,000 school exemption is unchanged, so that line stays where it is (enrolled CS/HJR 1F).
2. Every non-ad valorem line. CDD, fire, solid waste, stormwater. The homestead exemption applies to ad valorem millage, so it does not reduce any of those assessments (enrolled CS/HJR 1F).
3. Whether homestead is already on file with the county property appraiser, and what the exemption status will be after closing.
4. New construction pricing. The Revenue Estimating Conference projects local non-school property tax revenue down $4.95 billion in fiscal year 2027 to 2028 and $8.78 billion in fiscal year 2028 to 2029, with a recurring impact of $11.86 billion (House staff analysis). Ask any builder how that is reflected in their fee schedule.
5. The millage assumption behind any savings number somebody quotes you.

Why nobody should restructure a purchase around an amendment that has not passed

Nobody can hand you an exact number today. The ballot summary itself requires the Legislature to prescribe a uniform procedure for counties and municipalities, and that implementing law does not exist yet (ballot summary). Underwrite the house to the tax bill that exists right now. If voters approve it, your November 2027 bill gets better and you keep the difference. If they do not, you still own a property that penciled on day one. Run the actual numbers past your CPA or your county property appraiser before you treat any of this as a budget line.

Amendment 3 is Ballot Number 3 on Florida's November 3, 2026 general election ballot. On the ballot it reads "Increased Homestead Exemption; Lower Cap on Increases in Non-Homestead Property Assessments." There is no financial impact statement printed under it, because legislatively referred amendments are not required to carry one.

It passes only with at least 60% approval from voters. Anything under 60% fails. That threshold is why a measure can win a clear majority and still not become law.

Key dates for the 2026 general election

What	When
Voter registration deadline	October 5, 2026 (closed)
Deadline to request a mailed ballot	5:00 p.m. on October 22, 2026
Early voting, required statewide	October 24 to October 31, 2026
Early voting, optional county extension	As early as October 19 and as late as November 1, 2026
Election Day	November 3, 2026, polls open 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. local time
Vote-by-mail ballot must be received	7:00 p.m. local time on November 3, 2026

Registration for this election closed on October 5. If you missed it, register for future elections at RegistertoVoteFlorida.gov.

Three ways to cast your vote

Request a mailed ballot, vote during the early voting window, or vote at your precinct on Election Day. For early voting and Election Day you must bring a current and valid photo ID with a signature. If your photo ID has no signature, bring a second ID that does.

A mailed ballot must be in your county Supervisor of Elections office by 7:00 p.m. on Election Day. Postmarks do not count. Dropping it off beats mailing it late.

Check your status at the official sources

• Registration status: registration.dos.fl.gov/CheckVoterStatus. Enter your name and date of birth.
• Register or update your record: RegistertoVoteFlorida.gov
• Polling place, sample ballot, and vote-by-mail ballot tracking: your county Supervisor of Elections. Find yours through the Division of Elections directory.
• Official amendment information: Florida Division of Elections, Constitutional Amendments

Your county sample ballot shows Amendment 3 exactly as it appears on November 3. I tell every client to pull theirs and read the amendment language before heading to the polls.

Sources: FL DOS Election Dates | FL DOS Early Voting | FL DOS Vote-by-Mail | FL DOS Election Day Voting | FL DOS Constitutional Amendments | Orange County sample ballot, Amendment 3 text | FL Division of Elections, initiative detail

Does the new exemption stack on top of the homestead exemption I already have?

No, it replaces the second exemption band instead of stacking on it. Today a Florida homestead gets $25,000 off every millage plus a CPI-adjusted $26,411 off non-school millage, $51,411 total (Florida DOR). Amendment 3 strikes that second band and substitutes up to $150,000 in 2027 and up to $250,000 in 2028 against non-school levies, so you end up with $25,000 against school taxes plus the new tier against everything else, not $51,411 plus $250,000 (enrolled CS/HJR 1F, Pinellas County Property Appraiser).

How much would I actually save?

The real gain is the difference between the new exemption and the $51,411 you already get, applied only to the non-school part of your bill. That works out to about $98,589 of additional exempt value in 2027 and roughly $197,000 to $198,000 in 2028, because the $26,411 tier keeps getting CPI-adjusted in the meantime.

Year	Non-school exemption	Net new exempt value	Pinellas estimate at 12.2011 mills
2026 (current law)	$51,411	n/a	n/a
2027	$150,000	about $98,589	about $1,203
2028	$250,000	about $197,000 to $198,000	about $2,423

The dollar estimates come from the Pinellas County Property Appraiser, which ran $98,589 and $198,589 against the 2025 countywide aggregate average non-school rate of 12.2011 mills (PCPAO FAQ). Your county's millage is different, so your savings will be different. Run your own number with your county property appraiser.

Will Amendment 3 lower my school taxes?

No, Amendment 3 does not lower school taxes, because the school district homestead exemption stays at $25,000 and is untouched by this amendment. The enrolled text still reads "For school district levies, up to the assessed valuation of twenty-five thousand dollars" (enrolled CS/HJR 1F). Every Florida homeowner keeps paying school millage on assessed value above $25,000, and on most Tampa Bay bills that is a large slice. One caution: the House staff analysis says the new exemption "would apply to all ad valorem taxes," which contradicts both the constitutional text and the ballot summary (House analysis). Trust the text.

Do I have to apply or re-file for the bigger exemption?

No, if you already have homestead exemption on file the larger exemption applies automatically (Hillsborough County Tax Collector). If you do not have homestead on your primary residence, that is the filing you need to make with your county property appraiser, and it is the gate to everything else here.

I just moved to Florida. When do I get the bigger exemption?

If you were not a permanent Florida resident as of December 31, 2026, you start with $25,000 against school levies and up to $50,000 against non-school levies, and you step up to the larger exemption beginning with the fifth year of exemption (enrolled CS/HJR 1F). Pinellas reads it the same way: after four years of maintaining a Florida homestead exemption, you qualify for the larger one on January 1 of the fifth year (PCPAO FAQ). One wrinkle: the ballot summary hedges the whole rule with "to the extent permitted by the U.S. Constitution" (ballot summary). Starting January 1, 2030, a county or city can shorten that waiting period by a two-thirds vote of its governing body for a "critical local need" (enrolled CS/HJR 1F).

Does Amendment 3 change Save Our Homes or portability?

No, Amendment 3 leaves both Save Our Homes and portability exactly as they are. The Save Our Homes cap on homestead assessment increases stays at 3% or the CPI change, whichever is lower, and Article VII section 4(d)(1) is untouched by the resolution (House analysis). Portability survives unchanged too, still a $500,000 maximum transferable differential with the same three-year lookback (enrolled CS/HJR 1F).

I own a rental or a second home. What does the 5% cap do for me?

Beginning January 1, 2027, the annual assessment increase cap on non-homestead property drops from 10% to 5% for all levies other than school district levies. It is written into two places in Article VII section 4: subsection (g) for residential property with nine units or fewer, and subsection (h) for everything else (enrolled CS/HJR 1F). School millage is still assessed on full market value every year with no cap at all, and the Manatee County Property Appraiser points out that the change "only caps assessed value, not taxes," because millage rates are set separately and can rise (Manatee PAO).

Will my CDD, fire, and stormwater charges go down too?

No, the increased homestead exemption applies to ad valorem taxes only and does not reduce non-ad valorem assessments such as CDD fees, solid waste, fire, or stormwater line items, and those can still be raised or newly adopted (PCPAO FAQ). Plenty of Riverview and Wesley Chapel bills carry a CDD line, so pull your own bill and look at the two sections separately before you estimate anything.

If it passes, when do I actually see it?

The amendment takes effect January 1, 2027, the change first shows up on the August 2027 TRIM notice, and it hits a real bill in November 2027 (Florida Senate bill page). The $250,000 tier arrives a year later, on the 2028 roll, and from January 1, 2029 forward that figure is adjusted for inflation. The $50,000 new-resident tier starts its own CPI adjustment on January 1, 2028.

What does it take to pass, and what is the fiscal tradeoff?

Amendment 3 needs at least 60% voter approval on November 3, 2026, and if it falls short current law stays exactly as it is (House analysis). The Revenue Estimating Conference projects the cut reduces local non-school property tax revenue by $4.95 billion in FY 2027 to 2028 and $8.78 billion in FY 2028 to 2029, with a recurring impact of $11.86 billion. The amendment also restricts county and city use of property tax revenue to seven categories: public safety, education and schools, infrastructure, natural resources, bond debt service, retirement benefits for employees, and operations and administration. Other spending can still be approved by county officers or the local governing body unless general law prohibits it. There is no financial impact statement on the ballot, because legislatively referred amendments are not required to carry one (ballot). Confirm your own numbers with your county property appraiser and your CPA before you make a buying, selling, or budgeting decision on this.