Florida voters were loud and clear, approving Amendment 3, a property tax referendum targeting residents during last week’s midterm elections.
The constitutional amendment, which secured 62 percent of the vote, takes effect next year. It 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 amendment also will cap annual assessment increases on non-homesteaded property, including commercial real estate, at 5 percent, down from the current cap of 10 percent.
A few points to keep in mind: These changes only apply to homeowners who are permanent Florida residents as of the end of this year. Anyone who becomes a resident effective Jan. 1 will receive a $50,000 non-school exemption, adjusted for inflation, until their fifth year when the full exemption becomes effective for them.
I was a little surprised that it passed, since it required 60 percent approval. But I shouldn’t have been. Floridians are looking for relief wherever they can get it. The property tax system as it has been is inequitable. Even so, Amendment 3 will have consequences that we have yet to see.
For homeowners in some smaller, less expensive towns in Florida, that could wipe out non-school property tax revenue. Cities are already trying to figure out what it means for their budgets, the services they’ll have to cut, and hiring.
Hialeah is considering cutting salaries, freezing hiring and eliminating positions as it prepares for the effects of Amendment 3, the Miami Herald reported last week. Hialeah, Miami-Dade’s second-largest municipality, could lose as much as $17 million in revenue the first year and $28 million in fiscal year 2029.
At The Real Deal’s Miami Real Estate Forum last week, Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said Amendment 3 is expected to reduce county revenue by about $400 million in its first year.
She said the county would work to preserve essential services, including public safety, fire rescue and transit, while finding ways to cut costs, adding to already completed department consolidation and contracts it’s renegotiated through a county initiative.
Long term, who will benefit most from this, and who will suffer? Where instead will the money come from?
And how will this affect renters? A recent study published by the Herald found that apartment renters could be exposed to higher rents as a result of Amendment 3.
What we’re thinking about: If you’re in the business and have analyzed the effects of Amendment 3 on your tax bills, send me a note at kk@therealdeal.com.
CLOSING TIME
Residential: Ziff Brothers Investments sold the waterfront mansion at 4101 South Ocean Boulevard in Highland Beach for $26 million to the Jennifer Gizzi Trustee Surf Dancer Land Trust.
Commercial: Welltower picked up three properties in South Florida from companies tied to David Katz. The healthcare real estate REIT paid $160 million for the Wilton Manors Health and Rehabilitation Center at 2675 North Andrew Avenue in Fort Lauderdale, the Fort Lauderdale Health & Rehabilitation Center at 2000 East Commercial Boulevard and the Glades West Rehab & Nursing Center at 15955 Bass Creek Road in Miramar.
— Research by Mary Diduch
NEW TO THE MARKET
Biopharma executives Stu Peltz and Ellen Welch listed their waterfront estate in Barefoot Beach, in Florida’s Bonita Springs, for $64 million. The 13,260-square-foot, 2.5-acre property at 112 Bonaire Lane is on the market with Ashley Baird Fenttiman and Kathleen Thanas with the Dawn McKenna Group at Coldwell Banker. The property has 120 feet of frontage on the Gulf of Mexico, and the home includes five bedrooms in the main house, two guest suites in a separate wing, an art gallery, rooftop saltwater pool and spa and a 3,900-bottle mahogany wine room.
A thing we’ve learned:
A private table at Palm Tree Club in North Bay Village costs $30,000, according to developer Allie Eichner.
Elsewhere in Florida
- More information on the Florida Learjet crash is coming out, including dire recordings with Air Traffic Control. Federal investigators also recovered part of an engine from the crash, which killed all nine people aboard. Debris was also found on the roofs of nearby properties, Fox News reported.
- Jason Reding Quiñones abruptly resigned abruptly as U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida, without explaining why. His tenure was marked by staffing losses, low morale and scrutiny over the office’s investigation into former CIA Director John Brennan, the Tampa Bay Times reported.
- Shorty’s Bar-B-Q near Dadeland Mall is closing to make way for a pair of apartment towers. The barbeque restaurant announced it’ll close on Dec. 27 of this year. The Bird Road and Davie locations are staying open.
