Florida’s high-profile property tax amendment, Amendment 3, narrowly passed, receiving about 62 percent of the vote, as of Wednesday morning, with 99 percent of votes recorded.
Under the state constitution, a ballot measure in Florida needs to reach at least 60 percent support in order to pass.
The amendment was opposed by a broad coalition of groups on both sides of the political aisle — from Republican sheriffs like Grady Judd to labor unions and progressive advocacy groups like Progress Florida and Florida Rising.
Even some top Republican elected officials, like Florida Senate President Ben Albritton and former Senate President Kathleen Passidomo, ultimately announced they would be voting against it, after voting to place it on the ballot during the state legislative session earlier this year.
Amendment 3 was the compromise Florida legislators reached this year following a directive by Gov. DeSantis to come up with a ballot measure that would eliminate property taxes in Florida entirely.
Because local governments, like cities and counties, rely on this tax revenue, critics warned Amendment 3 would wipe out funding for essential public services and entities like schools, fire departments, police departments, transportation infrastructure and public parks — particularly in smaller, rural counties.
Amendment 3, as passed, will gradually reduce non-school property taxes for Florida homeowners who’ve lived in Florida for at least five years. It will accomplish this by expanding the homestead property tax exemption from $50,000 to $150,000 in 2027 and $250,000 in 2028, and by raising the annual cap on assessment increases for non-homestead properties from 10 percent to 5 percent.
Crucially, as critics of the measure pointed out, Amendment 3 also directed the Florida Legislature to create a process to fully eliminate non-school homestead property taxes eventually.
“Amendment 3 slashes and cuts and burns,” Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd, an outspoken Republican, declared at a press conference in October. “It does not give government a haircut with appropriate tools and scissors. It gives us a haircut with a weed eater.”
Supporters argued Amendment 3 would provide much-needed tax relief to Florida homeowners, as Floridians grapple with the consequences of federal tariffs, higher healthcare costs, higher gas prices stemming from President Trump’s war in Iran, and a broken property insurance market.
As Jackson Peel of grassroots group Save Our Services (an anti-Amendment 3 group) points out, “Unfortunately, the affordability crisis that shaped this election also helped propel support for Amendment 3. People are struggling and they need relief. Now, communities will be forced to respond to the budget challenges this will create.”
Fearmongering or looming crisis?
The Florida Realtors Association, a powerhouse lobbying group, poured more than $20 million into a campaign to promote the passage of Amendment 3, ironically pitching it as an affordability solution just a few years after lobbying the state to ensure landlords can raise already-skyrocketing rents at will.
Industry experts have predicted Amendment 3 will increase home prices, and therefore earn the Realtors Associations’ members — real estate agents — higher sales commissions.
Critics, however, pointed to predictions that Amendment 3 could end up hurting renters, who make up about one-third of Florida residents.
It will also drain funding (by way of less property tax revenue) to the tune of $12 billion in recurring losses annually by 2030 for essential municipal services, including fire rescue and law enforcement.
“This isn’t fear-mongering, it’s math,” said Orange County Sheriff John Mina in a statement, adding that, in practice, this would mean fewer deputies, slower 911 response and ultimately, more crime.
“And the cost doesn’t disappear,” he added. “It shifts to other taxes and fees and onto renters, small businesses, and the very families who are supposed to be getting relief. Our job is to protect you, and Amendment 3 doesn’t.”
Peel, of Save Our Services, adds, “It’s critically important that state and local governments do everything they can to make sure that the service cuts or tax increases don’t fall on Florida’s working families and seniors. The tax shift cannot fall on working people.”
The fate of other ballot amendments
The other two constitutional amendments on the Florida ballot this year, however, did not pass.
Amendment 1, which would have increased the percentage of funds from the budget that could be kept in the state’s “rainy day” fund each year, received 59 percent of the vote, just shy of passage.
Amendment 2, a tax cut for agricultural companies, also fell short of the 60 percent threshold, receiving just about 42 percent support.
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