What Amendment 3 Does, in One Paragraph
Amendment 3 raises the Florida homestead exemption for every tax except school taxes to $150,000 in 2027 and $250,000 in 2028, then indexes it to inflation from 2029. It cuts the annual cap on assessment increases for non-homestead property (second homes, rentals, commercial) from 10% to 5%. It tells the Legislature to set up a procedure that lets counties and cities go further, up to exempting a homestead's full value from their own levies. And people who are not Florida residents on December 31, 2026 keep today's smaller exemption until their fifth year of exemption. It is a constitutional amendment, so it needs 60% of the vote on November 3, 2026 to pass.
How It Reads on Your Ballot
The Legislature placed it on the ballot on June 2, 2026 (the House voted 75-26, the Senate 30-9), under the title "Save Our Homes from Excessive Property Taxes". That title did not survive. On August 3, a Leon County circuit judge ruled the title and summary "clearly and conclusively defective", calling the title closer to a political slogan than a description, and blocked that wording. The Attorney General rewrote it, so on your ballot it now appears as:
Amendment 3: "Increased Homestead Exemption; Lower Cap on Increases in Non-Homestead Property Assessments."
If you read coverage from June or July that uses the old name, it is the same measure.
Today's Exemption vs. Amendment 3
Florida's current homestead exemption comes in two $25,000 layers: the first applies to all taxes, the second only to non-school taxes (and has grown slightly with inflation since 2025). For non-school taxes, that is roughly $50,000 off your assessed value today. Amendment 3 changes only the non-school side:
| School taxes | All other taxes (county, city, special districts) | |
|---|---|---|
| Today | $25,000 exempt | About $50,000 exempt |
| 2027 if it passes | $25,000 exempt (unchanged) | $150,000 exempt |
| 2028 if it passes | $25,000 exempt (unchanged) | $250,000 exempt |
| 2029 onward | $25,000 exempt (unchanged) | $250,000, adjusted for inflation each year |
School levies are roughly 40% of a typical Florida bill, and they are left exactly where they are. That is the single most misunderstood part of the measure: nobody's tax bill goes to zero under Amendment 3, because everyone with a home assessed above $25,000 keeps paying school taxes.
The Save Our Homes cap (3% a year or inflation, whichever is lower) is not changed. Both the cap and the bigger exemption apply to assessed value, not market value, which for long-time owners is often far below what the house would sell for.
What It Would Save: Worked Numbers
The saving depends on two things: your assessed value and the combined non-school millage where you live. Non-school millage in most of Florida falls somewhere around 10 to 14 mills ($10 to $14 per $1,000 of taxable value). The table uses 12 mills as a round illustration; your county property appraiser lists the exact rates for your parcel.
| Assessed value | Non-school tax today | 2027 | 2028 | Yearly saving from 2028 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $150,000 | $1,200 | $0 | $0 | $1,200 |
| $250,000 | $2,400 | $1,200 | $0 | $2,400 |
| $400,000 | $4,200 | $3,000 | $1,800 | $2,400 |
| $800,000 | $9,000 | $7,800 | $6,600 | $2,400 |
Two things fall out of the arithmetic:
- The saving tops out. Once your assessed value is above $250,000, the extra $200,000 of exemption is worth the same in dollars to everyone: 200,000 × your non-school millage. At 12 mills that is $2,400 a year whether the house is assessed at $300,000 or $3 million.
- Homes assessed under $250,000 stop paying non-school taxes entirely from 2028. Their dollar saving is smaller, but as a share of the bill it is the largest.
Your school taxes in every row are unchanged. On the $400,000 home, at a typical 6 school mills, that is still about $2,250 a year.
These are the savings if local tax rates stay put. They may not, which is the next section.
The Catches
New residents wait
Anyone who is not a Florida resident on December 31, 2026 gets the existing exemption when they qualify for a homestead, and the bigger exemption only from their fifth year of exemption. The amendment itself adds "to the extent permitted by the U.S. Constitution", which signals that the drafters expect a legal challenge. Treating newcomers differently from long-time residents has been struck down before under the constitutional right to travel, so this part is the most likely to end up in court.
If you are planning a move to Florida, residency on December 31, 2026 could be worth thousands of dollars a year for four years. Residency is a legal status, not just a mailing address, so talk to the county property appraiser about what they will accept before you rely on it.
Rates can rise to fill the gap
State economists put the revenue loss at close to $12 billion a year once fully phased in. Orange County alone estimates $165 million less in homestead collections in 2027 and $275 million in 2028, with fire services and the sheriff's office among the biggest line items affected. Local governments can respond by cutting spending or by raising millage on whatever is still taxable. A higher millage claws back part of your saving on the non-school side, and it lands in full on property that has no homestead.
Everyone without a homestead pays more of the share
Owners of rentals, second homes and commercial property get a tighter assessment cap (5% instead of 10%), which helps them in a hot market. But they keep paying non-school taxes on almost their full value, so any rate increase falls on them first. Renters feel it indirectly through rents. The Tax Foundation's critique of the plan centres on exactly this shift.
Is This "Eliminating Property Taxes"?
Not on its own. What it creates is a pathway: the Legislature must prescribe a uniform procedure through which a county or city can raise the homestead exemption on its own levies up to the home's full assessed value, and special districts can do the same with voter approval. Nothing requires them to. School taxes remain outside the measure entirely, so even in a county that went all the way, homestead owners would still get a school tax bill.
Governor DeSantis had pushed for eliminating homestead property taxes. He backed the version that passed but has said he will not formally campaign for it because "it wasn't my proposal". For other states moving in the same direction, see our guide to states with no property tax.
Timeline
- November 3, 2026: the vote. It needs 60% of those voting on the amendment.
- December 31, 2026: the residency date that decides whether the new-resident waiting period applies to you.
- January 1, 2027: the amendment takes effect and the $150,000 exemption applies to the 2027 tax roll.
- August 2027: your TRIM notice is the first place you will see the new exemption applied. Check it.
- November 2027: the first tax bill that reflects it.
- 2028: the exemption rises to $250,000; inflation indexing starts in 2029.
Whatever happens on November 3, the March 1 deadline to file for a homestead exemption does not move. If you bought in 2026 and have not filed, the Florida homestead exemption guide walks through it. Without an existing homestead exemption, Amendment 3 gives you nothing.
If It Does Not Reach 60%
Nothing changes. The two-layer $50,000 exemption stays, the second layer keeps its annual inflation adjustment, the Save Our Homes cap stays at 3%, and non-homestead property keeps its 10% cap. Florida amendments have failed with majority support before: 60% is a high bar, and a measure can win 55% and still lose.
Quick Answers
Does Amendment 3 eliminate school property taxes?
No. School district levies are excluded. Homestead owners keep the existing $25,000 school exemption and nothing more.
Does it change the senior exemptions?
The amendment does not repeal Florida's local-option senior exemptions or the Save Our Homes cap; it adds a larger exemption on top for non-school levies. See our guide to property tax exemptions for seniors for what stacks today.
Does it help a second home or rental?
Only through the lower 5% assessment cap. The bigger exemption is for homesteads, meaning your permanent residence.
When would my bill go down?
On the November 2027 bill, if it passes, with a second step on the 2028 bill.
Bottom Line
For a typical long-time Florida homeowner, Amendment 3 is worth up to about 200,000 times the local non-school millage a year, roughly $2,000 to $2,800 in most places, from 2028. It does not touch school taxes, it makes people who move to Florida after 2026 wait four years longer for the full benefit, and part of the saving may be eaten by higher local rates paid disproportionately by renters, landlords and businesses. Whether that trade is worth it is the question on the ballot. Either way, make sure your homestead exemption is filed: every number above starts from it.
General information, not legal or tax advice. The savings shown are illustrations at an assumed 12-mill non-school rate; your actual savings depend on your parcel's assessed value, local millage, and any implementing legislation. Check with your county property appraiser.