Florida voters approved Amendment 3, a proposed property tax referendum meant to phase out property taxes for primary residences.
As of 10:25 p.m., 62 percent of Floridians who voted in Tuesday’s midterm elections were in favor of the constitutional amendment; about 38 percent were against. The measure required 60 percent approval to pass.
The ballot item will raise the $50,000 homestead exemption on primary homes to $150,000 in 2027, and $250,000 in 2028. Beyond that, the Florida Legislature will raise the exemption based on the consumer price index. The proposed amendment will cap annual assessment increases on non-homesteaded property, including commercial real estate, at 5 percent, down from the current cap of 10 percent.
Outgoing Gov. Ron DeSantis directed the Florida Legislature to take up the issue, pushing for an elimination of property taxes, earlier this year. But after lawmakers eliminated a provision that would have created a state trust fund to help municipalities cover drops in revenue, he did not actively campaign for Amendment 3 until the final days leading up to the election.
Police and fire unions opposed the measure, including The Florida Police Chiefs Association, Florida Professional Firefighters, Florida State Fraternal Order of Police and the Florida Sheriffs Association.
The Florida Realtors endorsed the amendment, stating that Amendment 3 “would put money back into homeowners’ pockets by lowering property-tax bills for eligible homeowners.” Developers and brokers were split on the issue, with many realtors supporting the measure and some developers against it.
“Cutting of services would be the last thing I would want to see,” developer Michael Tillman previously said. “What we’re seeing in the data are the people who are the most cost-burdened, they’re excluded from the relief this would provide. Renters get nothing out of this.”
While it will provide relief on property taxes, local government officials have warned that they could be forced to collect funding for crucial services in other ways.
As written, the amendment does not protect funding for police, fire and other services. The Florida Policy Institute estimated that if passed, Amendment 3 could reduce local revenues by nearly $12 billion on a recurring basis. To account for budget shortfalls, local government leaders and other experts said that cities and counties could be forced to increase their millage rates, or tack on fees to pay for services.
Commercial landlords and tenants are also expected to bear more of the burden: A study published by the Miami Herald recently found that apartment renters could be exposed to higher rents if the legislation were to become law.
On an industry panel hosted by Master Brokers Forum last month, Florida Rep. Chip LaMarca acknowledged that the amendment was “not perfect” but a starting point.
“The property tax system we have in the state of Florida, although we don’t have income tax in the city or the state, the property tax system is inequitable. It’s broken,” LaMarca, a Republican whose district includes part of Broward County.
On the same panel, Broward County Commissioner Lamar Fisher noted that longtime homeowners with low assessed values “could almost eliminate their taxes altogether.”
“The folks that you serve every day, the multimillion-dollar buyers, not so much,” Fisher said.
Fisher noted that some municipalities rely “100 percent on tax ad valorem.”
Supporters and critics of the measure said that regardless of the election’s outcome,state lawmakers should continue working on property tax reform.
“No matter what happens, my opinion, politically, Gov. Byron Donalds will be working with the Budget and Tax Reform Commission,” LaMarca said. “I would hope that if it’s Gov. David Jolly, that he would also work on property taxes. If this passes or does not pass, property taxes will be front and center. So we’re not getting away from this issue.”
Donalds won the governor’s race on Tuesday.
