From Local Voices United on Property Tax Amdt. 3
This November, Floridians will vote on Amendment 3, a constitutional amendment that would put homestead property taxes on a path to elimination.
You’ve probably heard a lot about it already, but here’s what you should really know:
Like every Florida constitutional amendment, Amendment 3 needs 60% approval to pass. If approved, it 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.
And here’s what it doesn’t include:
- No replacement for the revenue it eliminates. The amendment doesn’t say how critical services will be funded.
Property taxes are the single largest source of local funding in Florida, and in most cities, the single biggest thing they pay for is emergency services.
Statewide, more than 56% of city general-fund spending goes to police, fire, and EMS, and in at least 85 Florida cities, public safety spending already exceeds every property-tax dollar collected.
Removing the revenue doesn’t remove the cost. Police still patrol. Firefighters still respond. Roads still need paving. The services still have to be paid for. The question if Amendment 3 passes is how will these essential services be funded at levels we’ve all grown accustomed to.
We built a page that walks through it all. How your property taxes actually work, what the amendment changes, where the costs go, and more.
Check it out here: http://localvoicesunited.com/property-tax
No spin, no jargon. Just what’s on your ballot and what it means for the place you call home. Read it, then share it with a neighbor. Because an informed voter is a smart voter.
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:
34.9 cents go to county — $256,830,818
38.9 cents to school district — $21,481,626,417
15.7 cents to municipality — $8,671,955,841
10.5 to other and special districts — $5,765,564,310
A Tax shift, not a Tax cut
Amdt. 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. (note: and increased rent prices)
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 tax climbs to make up the gap, every Floridian pays more every time they shop, whether they own a home, rent, or not.
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)
The amendment doesn’t guarantee a single dollar for public safety. Remove the only money that pays for these services, and municipalities have no choice but to cut officers off the street and scale back the emergency response time that saves 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 toward 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.
Amendment 3 will be on your November ballot. Don’t vote on this without doing three things first:
- Read the amendment, then read what the Legislature’s own economists say it will cost: nearly $12 billion a year in funding for local services, gone.
- See exactly what Amendment 3 would cost using this city-by-city data.
- Pass it on. Most people will vote on this without ever seeing the math.
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.
