Florida Amendment 3: What Homestead Owners, Landlords, and Relocators Need to Know Before November 3
Longboat Key, Florida — September 2026 — Amendment 3 is generating a high volume of questions, much of it framed as either a windfall or a threat. Neither framing is precise. The measure has specific mechanics, specific dates, and specific exclusions, and those details determine whether it affects you at all.
This is for you if any of these are true:
- You own a Florida primary residence, or you will apply for homestead.
- You own rentals, a second home, or commercial property.
- You or a client might become a Florida resident before year-end.
- You buy, sell, or advise on Florida real estate and keep getting asked, “Did they eliminate property taxes?”
They did not. Not yet.
Amendment 3 is on Florida’s November 3, 2026 general-election ballot. It is a proposed change to the Florida Constitution. It needs at least 60% yes to pass. If it passes, most provisions take effect January 1, 2027. Nothing about your 2026 tax bill changes because of this amendment.
The measure started in the June 1–3, 2026 special session as CS/HJR 1-F. The Legislature’s working title was “Save Our Homes from Excessive Property Taxes.” After a Leon County court found that title and summary defective, the Attorney General rewrote what voters will see. The policy did not change. The ballot title now reads:
Increased Homestead Exemption; Lower Cap on Increases in Non-Homestead Property Assessments
Read the source documents, not the campaign mail:
The short version
What you have today
For the 2026 tax year, a qualifying homestead generally receives about $51,411 of exemption:
- $25,000 that applies to all millages, including school taxes
- An extra CPI-adjusted amount (about $26,411) that applies only to non-school millages
That is the baseline the emails are measuring against.
Save Our Homes (the 3% cap on annual increases in homestead assessed value) is a separate protection. Amendment 3 does not repeal it. Portability and the usual extra exemptions (veterans, seniors, widows, disability, and others) also stay.
What the amendment would do if 60% of voters say yes
1. A much larger homestead exemption — for non-school taxes only
Beginning January 1, 2027, the extra non-school homestead exemption would be replaced with:
- Up to $150,000 of assessed value in 2027
- Up to $250,000 of assessed value in 2028
- Positive CPI adjustments to that maximum beginning January 1, 2029
The $25,000 exemption that applies to school levies remains. Homeowners would effectively have two stacks: a large non-school exemption and the existing small school exemption.
That school-tax carve-out was one of the most important edits in the special session. An earlier concept would have applied the big exemption to all levies, including schools. The version that reached the ballot does not. School millage is often a large share of a Florida tax bill, so the savings are real but not “the whole bill goes away.”
2. A hard date: December 31, 2026
This is the line most headlines skip, and it is the planning item for anyone moving to Florida.
Permanent Florida residents as of December 31, 2026 who have established homestead or who establish it later are in the large-exemption group on the 2027 / 2028 schedule.
People who become Florida residents on or after January 1, 2027 start smaller: generally $25,000 against school levies and $50,000 against non-school levies, with inflation adjustment. They become eligible for the full $150,000 / $250,000 exemption beginning in the fifth year of the exemption.
You do not have to close on a house by December 31. The date is about residency, not the closing date. Someone who is a Florida resident by year-end 2026 can buy later and still sit in the larger group when they homestead.
3. A tighter cap on non-homestead assessments
Rentals, vacation homes, apartment buildings, and commercial property do not receive the expanded homestead exemption.
What does change: the annual cap on assessment increases for non-homestead property would drop from 10% to 5%, starting January 1, 2027. That cap change also does not apply to school taxes. It does not cut today’s assessed value. It slows how fast taxable value can rise on those assets in later years.
4. A path to go further, not an automatic wipeout
The amendment requires the Legislature to write a uniform process so counties and municipalities can increase the homestead exemption on their own levies, up to a property’s full assessed value. Special districts could do the same with voter approval.
That is a framework, not a schedule that eliminates non-school homestead taxes on a set date. Campaign language that treats full elimination as a done deal is ahead of the constitutional text.
5. Limits on how cities and counties spend the revenue that remains
Counties and municipalities would be limited to using property-tax revenue for listed purposes: public safety, education and schools, infrastructure, natural resources, bond debt service, employee retirement benefits, and operations and administration.
What it would cost local governments
This is the part of the debate that does not show up in the “more money in your pocket” emails.
Legislative estimates put the statewide reduction in local non-school property-tax revenue on the order of $4.6–$5.0 billion in FY 2027–28 (the $150,000 year) and $8.4–$8.8 billion in FY 2028–29 (the $250,000 year). Individual cities have already published their own hits.
Supporters call that overdue homestead relief and point to the spending limits and the school carve-out. City and county officials call it a cost shift: services still have to be funded, and the lost base is concentrated on homesteads. Either way, landlords and commercial owners should assume local governments will look at millage, fees, and service levels if the amendment passes.
Schools are protected from this exemption increase. Cities and counties are not.
What this means for deals happening now
For transactions closing in 2026:
- Taxes are assessed, prorated, and collected under current law.
- Do not price a purchase, a listing, or an underwriting model on a 2027 exemption voters have not approved.
- Sellers should expect standard tax prorations.
- Buyers should run affordability on today’s millage and assessed value, then treat Amendment 3 as a scenario, not a credit.
If you are advising a relocating buyer, the question is not “Can we close by December 31?” It is “Will this person be a permanent Florida resident by December 31, 2026?” Homestead is applied for after ownership and residency are in place. The residency date is the one that sorts people into the large exemption or the five-year wait.
What does not change if it passes
- Your 2026 tax bill
- School millage (the extra exemption is non-school only)
- Save Our Homes and portability
- Existing extra exemptions
- Homestead protection from forced sale (a separate constitutional protection)
- The fact that second homes, rentals, and commercial property are not homestead
And this, which still needs saying in September 2026: Florida has not eliminated property taxes. The Legislature put a proposal on the ballot. Closings still follow the current system.
How we would use this at Walter Group
Owner-occupants already here. If you homestead and you were a Florida resident by the end of 2026, model two years of non-school savings against your county’s non-school millage. Homes assessed at or below the new exemption would still pay school taxes.
Relocators and 2026–27 buyers. Calendar the residency date. Document domicile the way a property appraiser will later expect you to document it.
Landlords and commercial owners. No larger homestead exemption. Watch the 10% → 5% cap and watch how your city replaces lost homestead revenue.
Agents. Quote the Senate text. The original ballot slogan was rewritten for a reason. The underlying joint resolution is what would enter the Constitution.
Official reading list
- Florida Senate — CS/HJR 1-F (history, votes, enrolled text)
- Florida Senate — CS/HJR 1-F bill summary
- Your county property appraiser’s Amendment 3 FAQ
- Barnes Walker session recap (June 2026 context; lawsuit section is now outdated)
This article is an informational briefing for clients and colleagues of Walter Group. It is not a recommendation on how to vote and not tax, legal, or accounting advice. For a specific property, use the county property appraiser and your CPA or counsel.
About Walter Group Real Estate
Walter Group, led by Steve and Janet Walter, has served the Longboat Key luxury and ultra-luxury waterfront market for more than 25 years. The team ranked first in Michael Saunders & Company’s Longboat Key sales volume in 2016 and 2018 through 2025, and was named a RealTrends Verified Top Small Team, in the top 1.5 percent nationwide, for 2025 and 2026. Walter Group specializes in Longboat Key, Lido Key, Casey Key, Bird Key, Siesta Key, and Downtown Sarasota Waterfront, offering clients the Walter Group Concierge Experience from first consultation through closing and beyond. Contact: 440 Gulf of Mexico Drive, Longboat Key, FL 34228; (941) 809-0907; waltergrouprealestate.com.
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Walter Group | Michael Saunders & Company
+1 (941) 809-0907
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Janet Walter
Walter Group | Michael Saunders & Company
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By Janet and Steve Walter
Longboat Key Luxury Real Estate Specialists
Walter Group Real Estate | WalterGroupRealEstate.com