Florida Amendment 3, explained in plain language
The answer up front: Amendment 3 ("Increased Homestead Exemption; Lower Cap on Increases in Non-Homestead Property Assessments") would exempt the first $150,000 of a homestead's assessed value from all NON-school property taxes starting January 1, 2027, rising to $250,000 on January 1, 2028 with annual inflation adjustments beginning in 2029 — while school taxes continue unchanged. It also halves the assessment-growth cap on non-homestead property (10 percent → 5 percent from 2027) and restricts what county and city property taxes may fund. It needs 60 percent approval on November 3, 2026. Every figure on this page is verified against the enrolled amendment text (CS/HJR 1-F).
How and when to vote (as of October 15, 2026)
Election Day is Tuesday, November 3, 2026. The deadline to register to vote for this election was October 5. Early voting is required in every county from October 24 through October 31. Counties may add days as early as October 19 and as late as November 1, so check your county Supervisor of Elections for sites and hours. To vote by mail, the deadline to request a ballot be mailed to you is October 22, and a voted mail ballot must be received by your county Supervisor of Elections by 7 p.m. local time on Election Day. A postmark does not count. You can drop a mail ballot in a secure drop box at the Supervisor's offices or at early-voting sites, and track it through the county links on the state's vote-by-mail status lookup. Sources: Florida Division of Elections, key 2026 election dates, early voting and vote-by-mail.
What changes, year by year
| Today | 2027 (if passed) | 2028+ (if passed) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homestead exemption, non-school levies | up to $51,411 (two-tier) | $150,000, replacing it | $250,000, inflation-adjusted per the text beginning 2029 |
| Homestead exemption, school levies | $25,000 | $25,000 — unchanged | $25,000 — unchanged |
| Non-homestead assessment cap | 10 percent | 5 percent | 5 percent |
| Save Our Homes cap (homesteads) | 3 percent or CPI | unchanged | unchanged |
What that's worth, by home value
The new exemption replaces today's non-school homestead exemption rather than adding to it, so the saving is the extra exempt value times the non-school rate. Today's column uses the 2026 exemption amounts. Engine-computed at 10.961 non-school mills (Orange County's current average as the worked example — your county's rate differs; the homestead calculator and buyer estimator compute yours):
| Assessed value | Non-school exemption today | 2027 saving vs today | 2028 saving vs today |
|---|---|---|---|
| $100,000 | $51,411 | ≈ $533 | ≈ $533 |
| $200,000 | $51,411 | ≈ $1,081 | ≈ $1,629 |
| $300,000 | $51,411 | ≈ $1,081 | ≈ $2,177 |
| $400,000 | $51,411 | ≈ $1,081 | ≈ $2,177 |
A home assessed at $250,000 or less would pay no non-school property tax at all from 2028 — school levies and non-ad-valorem assessments (fire fees, CDDs) still apply.
What it costs local governments
Florida's Revenue Estimating Conference (July 10, 2026 review) puts the cut to local non-school property taxes at about $4.9 billion in the 2027-28 state fiscal year and $8.7 billion in 2028-29, and about $11.8 billion a year once fully in effect, counting the homestead exemption and the 5 percent cap together (conference analysis, PDF). The conference officially adopted a "zero/negative indeterminate" estimate, its standard for a proposed amendment, since nothing changes unless voters approve it. The Amendment 3 by county study breaks the estimate down for every county, city and special district, with what a $300,000 homestead saves in each county.
New Florida residents: the four-year wait
Anyone without a Florida permanent residence as of December 31, 2026 gets a smaller non-school exemption — $50,000 — for their first four years, stepping up to the full amount beginning with the fifth year. From 2030, a county or city may shorten that wait by a two-thirds vote for "a critical local need." (The $25,000 school exemption applies to everyone from day one.)
The two provisions most coverage skips
- A local path to zero: the text requires the Legislature to prescribe a uniform procedure letting each county and city raise the exemption for its own levies "up to all remaining assessed valuation" — that is, local governments could opt their homestead taxes down to nothing. The ballot summary compresses this into "requires, through general law, a schedule for full elimination" — a description a Leon County judge found misleading on August 4, 2026, ordering the summary rewritten (the amendment itself stayed on the ballot). See the ballot-language lawsuit.
- A spending restriction: county and municipal property taxes could be used ONLY for listed core purposes — public safety (law enforcement, fire, EMS), education and public schools, infrastructure (roads, bridges, stormwater), and related items in the text. That's a constitutional restriction on budgets, not just a tax cut.
What Amendment 3 does NOT change
- School taxes (only the existing $25,000 exemption applies).
- The Save Our Homes 3-percent cap and portability for existing homesteads — project yours here.
- Non-ad-valorem assessments (fire, solid waste, CDD).
- Nothing before January 1, 2027 — your 2026 TRIM notice and November 2026 bill are under current law (see the TRIM guide, including SB 4-F's separate new millage rules).
Sources
Enrolled CS/HJR 1-F text ( flsenate.gov bill record) — exemption tiers, inflation clause, non-homestead cap dates, new-resident tier, local opt-up procedure, and the revenue-use restriction all cited to the enrolled pages. Savings computed from Florida DOR millage data by the same engines behind the calculators. This page will be updated the week after the November 3 vote, either way. Informational only — not tax or legal advice.
Quick answers
How much would Amendment 3 save me?
For an existing homestead, the non-school exemption becomes $150,000 of assessed value in 2027 and $250,000 in 2028. That replaces today's non-school exemption (up to $51,411), so the saving is the difference. At the median Florida county's non-school rate (9.796 mills), a homestead assessed at $250,000 or more saves about $966 a year more than today in 2027 and about $1,945 from 2028. School taxes continue unchanged. The table on this page computes it by home value.
Does Amendment 3 eliminate property taxes?
No. It exempts the first $150,000 (2027), then $250,000 (2028), of a homestead's assessed value from NON-school taxes only. School taxes and non-ad-valorem assessments (fire fees, solid waste, CDDs) still apply. The text does direct the Legislature to set a procedure letting each county and city raise the exemption for its own levies up to all remaining value — a local option, not an automatic statewide repeal.
When does Amendment 3 take effect? Does it change my November 2026 tax bill?
The changes would take effect January 1, 2027. Your 2026 TRIM notice and November 2026 bill are under current law; the first bill that would reflect Amendment 3 is the one mailed in November 2027.
Does Amendment 3 change the Save Our Homes 3 percent cap?
No. The Save Our Homes cap on existing homesteads (3 percent or CPI, whichever is lower) and portability are unchanged by the amendment's text.
Does Amendment 3 lower CDD fees or fire assessments?
No. Non-ad-valorem assessments — CDD, fire, solid waste — are not property taxes on assessed value, so the new exemption does not reduce them.
Does Amendment 3 help rental properties, second homes, or businesses?
Not through the exemption, which is for homesteads only. Non-homestead property gets a different change: its yearly assessment-growth cap drops from 10 percent to 5 percent starting in 2027.
Does Amendment 3 limit what property taxes can pay for?
Yes. County and city property taxes could fund only listed core purposes — public safety (law enforcement, fire, EMS), education and public schools, infrastructure (roads, bridges, stormwater), and related items named in the text. That is a constitutional limit on budgets, not only a tax cut.
Does Amendment 3 cut school taxes?
No. School district levies keep only the long-standing $25,000 exemption — the new $150,000/$250,000 amounts apply to all OTHER levies (county, city, special districts). That's roughly a third of a typical bill that doesn't change.
I'm moving to Florida — do I get the full exemption?
Not immediately. Anyone who wasn't a Florida permanent resident as of December 31, 2026 gets $50,000 (non-school) for their first four years, then steps up to the full amount in year five (Art. VII text as proposed). The $25,000 school exemption applies from the start.
Is this the same thing as the Amendment 3 lawsuit?
Related but separate: this page explains what the amendment would DO; the lawsuit challenged how the ballot SUMMARY describes it. On August 4, 2026 a Leon County judge agreed the wording was misleading and ordered it rewritten; the state did not appeal, and the rewritten title and summary are the wording on the November 3 ballot. Our lawsuit tracker follows the case.
What does it need to pass?
At least 60 percent approval on November 3, 2026. If it passes, the changes take effect January 1, 2027; if it fails, current law continues unchanged.
When does the Amendment 3 exemption start adjusting for inflation: 2028 or 2029?
2029. Both years appear because the enrolled text (CS/HJR 1-F) uses each one, in a different clause. The $250,000 exemption is adjusted annually for inflation beginning January 1, 2029: section 6(a)(2)a is amended to point at it. The January 1, 2028 date in section 6(a)(2)b applies to the $50,000 exemption for new Florida residents. The 2027 amount of $150,000 is not indexed. (Corrected September 29, 2026: an earlier version of this page had the two dates reversed.)
Data verified as of October 2026.