Florida Amendment 3 Passed: $250,000 Homestead Exemption in 2028, 5% Non-Homestead Cap, 5-Year Wait

What passed, and what is still not final

The vote figures are from news reports, and we could not read the Division of Elections results page (it is built by script). WUSF reported on November 3, 2026: “With 99% of the vote in, the amendment had nearly 62% support.” CBS12 reported 62 percent and BayNews 9 reported 62%. None of the three published raw vote counts, so we give none. The Florida League of Cities summary of the resolution says it “would require 60% approval to pass.” The Legislature passed it as CS/HJR 1F by 75-26 in the House and 30-9 in the Senate.

The returns are not final until certified. Florida Statutes 102.112(2) sets noon on the 13th day after a general election, November 16, 2026, for county returns, and 102.111(2) has the Elections Canvassing Commission meet at 9 a.m. on the 14th day, November 17, 2026, “to certify the returns of the election for each federal, state, and multicounty office and for each constitutional amendment.” A margin of roughly two points over the threshold makes a change of outcome unlikely, but that is our reading of the reported share, not an official statement.

The text, line by line

The enrolled resolution amends Article VII, sections 4 (assessments), 6 (homestead exemptions) and 9 (local taxes) and adds a schedule in Article XII. The schedule says the amendments “shall take effect January 1, 2027.”

Two things the table makes visible. First, the school-district exemption of $25,000 is the first number in the new paragraph and does not move, so school millage is billed on the same base as before. Second, the Save Our Homes assessment limit for homestead property, the lower of 3% or the CPI change, is carried through unchanged in section 4(d), as is the transfer of up to $500,000 of the difference between just value and assessed value to a new homestead.

The December 31, 2026 line

The new-resident rule is where the papers disagree in wording, so we read it in the enrolled text. Paragraph (1)b applies to a person who, on or after January 1, 2027, holds title and lives in the property “who had not maintained a permanent residence in this state as of December 31, 2026.” That person is exempt on non-school levies up to $50,000, and “beginning with the fifth year of exemption” is exempt up to the larger amount, adjusted for inflation.

• The Senate release says four years; the text says the fifth year. The release of June 2, 2026 says new residents “will receive a homestead exemption of $50,000 for four years, after which they will be eligible” for the larger one. These agree: four years at $50,000, then the larger exemption starts in the fifth. We did not find a conflict; the ballot summary uses a third phrasing, saying it “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.” The ballot words say “after January 1, 2027”, the text says “as of December 31, 2026”; someone who becomes a resident on January 1, 2027 itself is a case the text answers (not a resident on December 31, 2026) and the ballot summary does not.
• The test is a state-level residence, not a county one. A Florida resident on December 31, 2026 who later buys in another county is not a “new resident” under the text as we read it. Who counts as having a permanent residence is a question for the property appraiser; our Florida domicile guide lists the 10 factors in section 196.015 and the other states’ tests.
• “Year of exemption” is not defined in the resolution. We read it as years in which the exemption is actually granted, so a buyer first exempt for tax year 2027 would reach the larger amount in 2031. The Legislature is told to prescribe uniform procedures for the paragraph, and the first-year counting rule is the kind of detail that procedure must settle. We have not seen that law.
• An application is still needed. Florida Statutes 196.011(1)(a) requires an application with the county property appraiser “on or before March 1 of each year” for an exemption tied to ownership and use on January 1.

Homestead: a worked example

All figures are our arithmetic on an assumed house and an assumed 15 mills (a mill is $1 per $1,000 of taxable value) for non-school levies; real millage differs by taxing authority and local governments may change it. They show the exemption, not a forecast of anyone’s bill. The assessed value is held at $500,000 and the inflation adjustments are left out.

For a new resident whose first exemption year is 2027, the exemption stays at $50,000 for 2027 to 2030, so against a December 31, 2026 resident with the same house the extra tax is $1,500 in 2027 and $3,000 in each of 2028 to 2030, $10,500 over four years. Local millage can fall, the assessed value can move, and the inflation adjustment of the two amounts starts in different years, so the real number differs. A house assessed at under $250,000 gets less: the exemption cannot exceed the value (Article VII, section 6(b)).

Non-homestead property: the 5% cap

For a landlord or a fund that owns Florida real estate, the cap is the part that matters. The text applies to two groups, and the Senate release describes only one.

• Subsection (g): residential real property, “which contains nine units or fewer”, that is not under the homestead or other limits. This is the single-family rental, the duplex, the small apartment building.
• Subsection (h): all other real property not covered by (a) to (d) and (g), which includes commercial and larger multifamily property. The Florida League of Cities summary says the reduction applies to residential real property containing nine units or fewer and other real property; the Senate release says non-residential property. The text is the controlling document and it covers both.

In both, the 5% limit applies “beginning January 1, 2027”, only to levies other than school district levies. School levies are assessed as before. The constitution does not change the rule that “No assessment shall exceed just value”: the cap slows the rise of the assessed value toward the market value, it does not set the value below it.

What the cap does not protect. Florida Statutes 193.1554(5) and 193.1555(5) reset the assessment to just value on a change of ownership or control, which they define as “the cumulative transfer of control or of more than 50 percent of the ownership of the legal entity” that owned the property when last assessed at just value; for non-residential property a qualifying improvement of at least 25 percent of just value does the same. The cap therefore helps the long-time holder and not the buyer, and an LLC or partnership whose units change hands past 50 percent resets. The statutes we saved still say 10 percent, so the Legislature must conform them before the first January 1, 2027 assessment; we have not seen that bill.

The four differences add to about $6,084 for a rental that begins with a gap between assessed and just value. The cap only binds when just value rises faster than 5% and the assessed value is below it; a property already assessed at just value has nothing to cap. The school-levy part of the bill is outside this table and follows just value. Our property tax appeal guide for investment property covers the other lever, a challenge to the just value itself, and the census of effective property tax rates by state puts Florida’s rate next to the other states.

What the amendment does not do

• No elimination by itself. The ballot summary says the amendment “requires, through general law, a schedule for full elimination.” The text of section 6(a)(4)a.1 says the Legislature “shall, by general law, prescribe a uniform procedure” for counties and municipalities to increase the exempt amount “up to all remaining assessed valuation”. A procedure for local governments to raise the exemption is what we read in the text; we found no schedule and no requirement that any local government use it. Special districts may raise it only by a referendum of their voters.
• No school-tax cut. School levies keep the $25,000 exemption and the old cap.
• A separate statute already changed the millage rule. CS/SB 4F, which the Florida League of Cities lists as passed, removes the per capita personal income adjustment so that “a rate of no more than 110% of the rolled-back rate may be adopted by a two-thirds vote of the governing body”, whatever the ballot result. It also let the ballot summary exceed the 75-word limit.
• Other rules in the section. Counties and municipalities may still add the senior exemptions of section 6(d), and the veterans’ discount in section 6(e) carries through the text.

Dates to watch

• November 16, 2026: county returns due at noon (Florida Statutes 102.112(2)).
• November 17, 2026: Elections Canvassing Commission meets at 9 a.m. to certify (102.111(2)); check the official margin.
• December 31, 2026: the residency line in paragraph (1)b.
• January 1, 2027: the effective date; the $150,000 exemption and the 5% cap apply from this date.
• March 1, 2027: deadline to file the exemption application for the 2027 roll (196.011(1)(a)).
• 2027 session: implementing law for the uniform procedures and the conforming changes to Florida Statutes 193.1554 and 193.1555. We have not seen it.

What a reader can do with this

Documents to check before talking to anyone:

• Moving to Florida. Write down the date you first had a permanent residence in Florida and whether it is on or before December 31, 2026; that date decides $50,000 or the larger exemption. Keep the evidence the property appraiser weighs.
• Already in Florida. Confirm that your exemption is filed and that the 2027 notice shows the new amount.
• Owning Florida rentals or fund interests. Pull the last two assessed and just values from the county property appraiser and see which ones sit below just value; only those benefit from a lower cap.
• Holding through an entity. Note any planned transfer of more than 50 percent of an owning entity, which resets the assessment.
• Look at the combined bill. Local governments may raise millage to offset the revenue loss; the 2027 TRIM notice is the first place to see it.

Who decides. A move of domicile touches the old state’s tax return, so a CPA or tax attorney in the state you leave and a Florida attorney handle it; a property tax consultant or attorney handles an assessment dispute. A financial adviser’s part is the plan around them, including the effect of a carrying-cost change on whether to buy, hold or sell. Nothing here is a recommendation.

This is analysis of public documents, not investment, legal or tax advice.

FAQ

Sources, read and saved on November 5, 2026: enrolled CS/HJR 1F, 2026F Legislature (flsenate.gov); Florida Constitution, Article VII (flsenate.gov); Florida Statutes 102.111, 102.112, 193.1554, 193.1555 and 196.011 (leg.state.fl.us); Florida Senate news release of June 2, 2026; Florida League of Cities summary of 2026 special session property tax bills (flcities.com); WUSF, CBS12 and BayNews 9 reports of November 3 and 4, 2026. Examples are our arithmetic with the assumptions stated. This is analysis of public documents, not investment, legal or tax advice.