Florida Amendment 3: what it would change on a tax bill

Official ballot title

INCREASED HOMESTEAD EXEMPTION; LOWER CAP ON INCREASES IN NON-HOMESTEAD PROPERTY ASSESSMENTS.—

Official ballot summary

This amendment increases the homestead exemption, for all non-school taxes, to $150,000 in 2027 and $250,000 in 2028, and adjusts for inflation thereafter. It requires the Legislature to prescribe a uniform procedure for counties and municipalities, for their respective levies, to increase the homestead exemption up to full assessed value, and allows special districts, subject to referendum approval, to do the same.

Persons who are not Florida residents on December 31, 2026, will receive the existing homestead exemption upon qualifying for a homestead exemption, with the increased homestead exemption beginning with the fifth year of exemption, to the extent permitted by the U.S. Constitution.

This amendment reduces the annual cap on assessment increases for non-homestead properties from 10% to 5%.

This amendment requires counties and municipalities to use property taxes solely for public safety, education and schools, infrastructure, natural resources, bond debt service, retirement benefits for employees, and operations and administration. Other expenditures may be approved by county officers or county or municipal governing bodies unless prohibited by general law, notwithstanding Article VII, Section 9(a) of the Florida Constitution, which allows counties and municipalities to levy property taxes for their respective purposes.

This amendment takes effect January 1, 2027.

Read the title, summary, and full text in the Division of Elections booklet.

What that summary describes

In the summary’s own terms, the non-school homestead exemption would be $150,000 in 2027 and $250,000 in 2028, with an inflation adjustment after that. Counties and municipalities would have a uniform procedure, set by the Legislature, to raise their own homestead exemption up to the full assessed value. Special districts could do that after a referendum. People who are not Florida residents on December 31, 2026 would keep the existing homestead exemption at first, and the increased exemption would begin in the fifth year, to the extent the U.S. Constitution allows.

The summary also lowers the annual cap on assessment increases for non-homestead property from 10% to 5%. It limits county and municipal use of property taxes to the purposes it lists, and it says other spending may be approved by county officers or by county or city governing bodies unless general law prohibits it. The effective date in the summary is January 1, 2027.

Current homestead exemptions are set out in section 196.031, Florida Statutes: up to $25,000 for qualifying homesteads, plus an additional exemption of up to $25,000 on assessed value greater than $50,000 for levies other than school-district levies. That additional amount is adjusted when the consumer price index change is positive. A tax roll can therefore use an additional amount other than $25,000. The illustration below uses the statutory base amounts and says so.

Arguments for the amendment

Rep. Toby Overdorf, the House sponsor, told WFLA that the measure is “basically giving local government a haircut and bringing them back to 2023 levels of where they were previously,” and that local officials who oppose that reduction are warning of service cuts. That is his argument, reported by WFLA report of the House sponsor’s comments. This page does not adopt his dollar figures or his description of local budgets.

Official fiscal estimate

The House joint resolution that placed the amendment on the ballot is CS/HJR 1F. The House final bill analysis says it was prepared by nonpartisan committee staff and is not an official statement of legislative intent. It reports that the Revenue Estimating Conference estimated cash impacts on local non-school property-tax revenues of −$4.95 billion in fiscal year 2027–28 and −$8.78 billion in fiscal year 2028–29. It also reports a recurring estimate of −$11.86 billion, which the analysis identifies as the cash impact in fiscal year 3031–32. Those are that conference’s estimates, as reported in the analysis, not a calculation of one tax bill and not an argument for or against the amendment.

Arguments against the amendment

The Palm Beach County League of Cities, in its August 28, 2026 statement, says it opposes Amendment 3. The statement says the amendment does not provide a dedicated state funding source to replace lost local revenue, that it limits local governments’ financial flexibility, and that it shifts the financial burden to renters, local businesses, or other revenue sources if services stay the same.

The Florida Association of Counties, in its September 2026 handout, says the amendment cuts county property-tax funding and provides no replacement revenue, and that counties would then cut services or raise other taxes and fees, or do both. This page does not repeat the association’s dollar estimates.

Estimate

Estimate. This is one set of inputs, not a bill and not a promised change in what anyone pays. School taxes, special assessments, the inflation adjustment on today’s additional exemption, the five-year rule for new residents, and the non-homestead assessment cap are not in the arithmetic.

• Assessed value used here: $300,000.
• Non-school millage used here: 10 mills. Article VII, section 9, as printed in the Division of Elections booklet, caps county purposes at ten mills and municipal purposes at ten mills. Ten mills is an input in this estimate, not a statement of any county’s rate.
• Current non-school exemption used here: $50,000, from the statutory base of $25,000 plus $25,000 in section 196.031. The additional amount on a real roll may differ because of the CPI adjustment.
• 2027 non-school exemption used here: $150,000, the figure named in the ballot summary.
• Taxable value in this estimate, using the statutory base exemption: $250,000.
• Taxable value in this estimate, using the 2027 summary figure: $150,000.
• Non-school tax in this estimate, statutory base: $2,500.
• Non-school tax in this estimate, 2027 summary figure: $1,500.
• Difference between those two estimate lines: $1,000.

Estimate. The difference is the arithmetic of the inputs above. It is not a forecast and it is not an offer of savings.

Questions people ask

Sources

• Florida Division of Elections, 2026 constitutional amendments booklet
• Division of Elections publications page
• Division of Elections initiative record, ballot number 3
• Section 196.031, Florida Statutes (2026)
• Florida House final bill analysis, CS/HJR 1F
• WFLA, sponsor comments on the amendment
• Palm Beach County League of Cities, Amendment 3 statement
• Florida Association of Counties handout

A higher tax bill is also a reason a mortgage payment goes up when escrow pays the tax.