By David Le, Staff Writer
While the focus of this election season has been on the candidates running for governor, the Senate, and representatives to serve Floridians in Tallahassee and in Washington, D.C., a proposed amendment to the Florida State Constitution has sparked debate on the benefits for homeowners versus the costs to local governments, municipalities, and citizens.
This proposal will be known as “Amendment 3” on the November ballot. After being proposed by Governor Ron DeSantis, the state legislature passed the ballot measure in June 2026 to be approved by the voters.
“It is a push to eliminate or greatly lower the amount of property taxes that homeowners pay in Florida,” Francis “Frank” Orlando, political science professor at Saint Leo University, said. “It needs 60% of the voters to approve it [to take effect].”
Amendment 3 seeks to raise tax exemptions for homesteaded properties to $250,000. Dade City’s Financial Officer, Peter Altman, explained how this could affect property owners with homestead exemptions.
“The greatest dollar value relief would go to that portion of the homesteaded property owners whose taxable value equals or exceeds $250,000,” Altman said. “Homesteaded property owners whose taxable value is less than the proposed $250,000 value would no longer pay any property taxes for government services except for the school district taxes.”
For homeowners, this proposal would benefit them through keeping more money in their pockets by paying less property taxes. Proponents of the amendment argue that it would help address rising prices hurting Floridians.
“For some voters, they would have a massive decrease in what they have to pay, which could go a long way towards affordability and cost of living,” Orlando said.
Supporters have also argued how tax breaks will free up funds for senior citizens living in Florida to spend on essentials like groceries and healthcare as costs rise while they live on fixed incomes that may not increase with inflation. However, critics have warned of the fiscal deficits local governments will need to address.
“A lot of revenue comes from property taxes,” Orlando said.
Orlando explained that property taxes help fund services such as public roads, parks, libraries, and emergency services. He estimates that county and municipal governments could lose $12 billion in revenue per year if Amendment 3 passes.
“How that gap will get filled is anybody’s guess. It either means counties will do less or find ways to find revenue to maintain their services,” Orlando said.
Florida is one of the eight states with no income taxes for citizens. Alongside sales taxes and excise taxes on products such as fuel, property taxes account for most revenues generated by county and local governments.
Some public safety organizations such as the Florida Fire Chiefs’ Association, Florida Professional Firefighters, the Florida State Fraternal Order of Police, and the Florida Sheriffs Association have publicly urged voters to reject the amendment, as uncertainty lingers on how emergency services would be funded.
The potential shortfall in revenue for local governments like Dade City has left officials like Altman weighing tough decisions they will have to make if Amendment 3 is passed, such as raising utility and service fees for residents to cover the loss of millions of dollars.
“[We may have to] reduce services except for emergency services [or]institute new or increase existing non-ad valorem taxes that tax properties on alternative assessment methods to extract the needed revenue in an alternative way,” Altman said.
While supporters have argued the Amendment will encourage local governments to govern with fiscal responsibility, sources such as the non-partisan Florida Policy Institute have warned the need to raise funds may ultimately shift costs onto others.
This has raised the possibility of higher taxes on businesses or sales taxes, which in turn pass the costs onto consumers. Assistant professor of economics at Saint Leo University, Rita Ray, explained how the costs of living may ultimately not decrease, but possibly increase.
Ray explained that a reduction and elimination of property taxes and shifting the costs onto a sales tax was a “redistribution of income.”
Those who could afford to buy a property made more income and will pay less taxes if the measure passes. Those who were economically struggling, such as renters, will now have to pay higher sales taxes in addition to getting no homestead tax relief.
Cost shifts may not only be seen in sales taxes, but renters that may be unable to afford to own a home could see their rent increase. Rental properties cannot receive homestead exemptions, and landlords may shift potentially increased non-homestead taxes to renters.
“[We may need to] increase the millage rate up to 10 mills on all non-homesteaded and those homesteaded properties exceeding $250,000 in taxable value,” Altman said.
Not only could potential cost shifts increase financial pressures on those with lower incomes, but the public health system could face strains from reduced funding if Amendment 3 is passed. Public healthcare districts are estimated by the Florida Policy Institute to lose over $323 billion dollars from lost property tax revenues that ensure healthy communities.
“Those who are employed in hospitals [could]lose their job, and it will take more time for someone waiting because there would be less staff [to see patients],” Ray said.
Ultimately, Amendment 3 raises many questions and concerns voters will have to consider when they head to the ballot boxes this November to decide the future of homestead property taxes in Florida. Reduced property taxes and sufficient government services are liked by everyone, but the questions of the costs to Floridians remain.
“Is it going to be worth not paying property taxes if we’re going to have a decreased quality of life? Or increased costs to use services that we already use?” Orlando said. “That is a value question people [must]answer. What do they care about?”
