Understanding Amendment 3

What you need to know about Florida’s Property Tax Amendment before voting this November

Amendment 3 would put homestead property taxes on a path to elimination. Like every Florida constitutional amendment, it needs 60% voter approval to pass.

It's written to look like a simple tax cut. But the fine print is more complicated. Read on to see what it would actually do, what it would mean for the police, fire, and EMS it pays for, and why the savings aren't what they appear.

Save Our Homes From Excessive Property Taxes

This amendment benefits Florida taxpayers by: Exempting homestead properties from taxation. Exempts the first $250,000 of a homestead's value from taxation for all levies other than school district levies and requires, through general law, a schedule for full elimination.

Ensuring funding for core services. Requires local governments to use remaining property taxes solely for core public needs, including public safety, education and schools, infrastructure, and natural resources.

Protecting small businesses. Limits future property tax assessments on businesses.Ensuring fairness for Florida residents. Requires any person who establishes Florida residency after January 1, 2027, to maintain Florida residency for five years prior to receiving the increased homestead exemption.

If approved, the amendment would take effect on January 1, 2027.

How Your Property Taxes Work

Property taxes are how your community funds the services people depend on. Law enforcement, fire and EMS, road repair, stormwater, parks. Unlike most other revenue, they're raised locally and stay local.

Your bill comes from two numbers:

  • Your property's taxable value
  • The millage rate

Your city, county, school board, and certain special districts each set their own rate every year, in public budget hearings anyone can attend.

Here's how a dollar breaks down statewide:

What is a millage rate?
It’s the tax rate applied to every $1,000 of taxable property value. A millage rate of 5.2 means $5.20 in city taxes for every $1,000 of assessed value.
Who sets it?
Your local city commission does—through public hearings and an open budget process. Decisions are made close to home, not by faraway politicians.
What affects your property tax bill?
  • Assessed Value – Set by the county appraiser based on market value.
  • Exemptions – Homestead and other exemptions reduce your taxable value.
  • Assessment Caps – Save Our Homes caps growth for full-time residents.
  • Millage Rate – Chosen annually by your local government to meet community needs.
What does it pay for?
City property taxes fund local essentials — services that protect safety, maintain infrastructure, and preserve quality of life. These include:
  • Police and fire departments
  • Street and sidewalk maintenance
  • Waste and water services
  • Parks and public spaces
  • Neighborhood-based services
Can I lower my property tax bill?
Yes. Here's how:
  • Apply for exemptions like the homestead exemption.
  • Review your assessed value — appeal if it's inaccurate.
  • Attend public budget hearings and make your voice heard.

34.9 cents go to the county
$19,256,830,818

15.7 cents to the municipality
$8,671,955,841

38.9 cents to the school district
$21,481,626,417

10.5 cents to other & special districts
$5,765,564,310

Illustrated one dollar bill with colorized overlay treatment in orange, green, and pink


Florida is one of the most tax-efficient states in the country.

SOURCE: WALLETHUB, MARCH 2025



Florida's average property tax rate is about half that of Texas.

SOURCE: TEXAS SCORE CARD, OCTOBER 2024

What Amendment 3 Actually Does

Amendment 3 is written to look like a straightforward cost-saving measure. But the full story is in the fine print.

If approved, Amendment 3 would:

  • Raise the homestead exemption from $50,000 to $150,000 on non-school taxes, beginning January 1, 2027.
  • Raise it again to $250,000 on January 1, 2028, then automatically increase that amount each year to keep pace with inflation.
  • Constitutionally require the Legislature to set a schedule for fully eliminating homestead property taxes, with no deadline and no replacement revenue named.
  • Require a supermajority vote to raise millage above the rollback rate, even during a declared emergency.
  • Make anyone establishing Florida residency after December 31, 2026 wait five years to qualify for the larger exemption.

What it leaves out is just as important:

  • No replacement for the revenue it eliminates. The amendment doesn't say how critical services will be funded.
Vertical composite image showing Florida local services -- a waterfront boardwalk, fire trucks outside a station, and a police vehicle, with colorized overlay treatment

A Tax Shift. Not a Tax Cut.

Amendment 3 removes the largest source of local funding, but doesn't change what local services cost to run. It also doesn't say how that funding gap gets filled. Here's where it lands:

 

Renters

Renters get no homestead exemption. None of the upside but all of the downside. Likely higher sales taxes, higher prices on what they buy, and the same cuts to police, fire, and the local services they count on.

Local businesses

Commercial property doesn't get the homestead break. As millage rises on a smaller base, commercial tax bills, rents, and local fees climb, and those costs reach customers at the register and gas pump.

 
 

Homeowners

Full-time homeowners with homes worth more than the exemption pay a larger share as rates rise on a shrinking base. Homeowners receiving the exemption pay extra fees too.

Everyone

Everyone who buys anything. If the state increases sales taxes climb to make up the gap, every Floridian pays more every time they shop, whether they own a home, rent, or not.

 

The exemption lowers one bill. Everything else goes up.

Public Safety Depends on Property Taxes

Statewide, more than 56% of city general-fund spending goes to police, fire, and EMS. In small cities, public safety alone runs about 90% of all property tax revenue.

In at least 85 Florida cities, spending on police, fire, and EMS already exceeds every property-tax dollar collected. In those places, public safety isn't part of the budget. It is the budget.

Florida firefighters have warned that cuts under this proposal could reach 25%. (CBS Miami, June 2, 2026)

56% of statewide city spending goes to police, fire, and EMS -- illustrated and photographic split image showing a police vehicle

The amendment doesn't guarantee a single dollar for public safety.

Remove the money that pays for these services, and municipalities have no choice but to cut officers off the street and scale back the emergency response times that save lives.

Shifting Choices From Your Town
to Tallahassee

Right now, the people who set your local tax rates live where you live. You can show up to their budget hearings. You can vote them out. That accountability is the whole point of local government, and it's exactly what Amendment 3 puts at risk.

By eliminating the main source of local funding with no replacement plan, Amendment 3 hands total control to Tallahassee. Decisions about what gets funded in your city, town, or village would be made by state politicians who don't live in your community and don't answer to you.

Communities would need to depend on the state to fund the basics. That's a move away from local self-government - and towards state dependency.

What works in Miami doesn't work in Monticello. A fast-growing metro, a rural town, an inland suburb, and a coastal community don't share the same needs or the same budget.

The people closest to a community are in the best position to decide what to fund and what they can afford. Amendment 3 replaces that judgment with a single statewide mandate, and then sends the bill back to everyone.

Before you vote on Amendment 3 -- a fire truck sits outside a fire station, with a pointing hand illustration directing attention to the right.

Amendment 3 will be on your November ballot. Don't vote on this without doing three things first:

Amendment 3 adjusts the property tax exemption. It doesn't adjust what that exemption pays for. The cost of public safety, road repair, and emergency response doesn't disappear. It just stops being funded.

This November, vote on what you know, not just what's on the ballot.