Amendment 3 would not touch the property taxes that pay for Florida's public schools. A group of school board members from around the state, including one from Seminole County, says schools could still feel it, because the local governments that help keep campuses safe and run after-school and youth programs would lose money.
Voters decide the measure on Tuesday, Nov. 3. It needs at least 60% of the vote to pass; if approved, it becomes part of the state constitution on Jan. 1, 2027.
What is on the ballot
After a Leon County judge found the first version misleading, the ballot title was rewritten in August to read "Increased Homestead Exemption; Lower Cap on Increases in Non-Homestead Property Assessments." According to the revised summary filed by Attorney General James Uthmeier, the amendment would:
- lift the homestead exemption that applies to every non-school levy, first to $150,000 in 2027, then to $250,000 in 2028, indexed to inflation in later years;
- have the Legislature set up a process letting counties and cities raise the exemption further, as high as the entire assessed value of a home;
- halve the yearly limit on how fast assessed values can rise for property that is not a homestead, like rental houses, second homes and businesses, from 10% to 5%;
- give newcomers who move to Florida after Dec. 31, 2026, only the current exemption at first, with the larger one beginning in year five;
- restrict county and city property tax spending to a list of purposes led by public safety, schools and infrastructure, while letting local officials approve other uses unless state law forbids them.
The school portion of a homeowner's bill keeps today's exemption either way. State revenue estimators put the long-run loss to local governments at close to $12 billion every year.
The warning
A statement reported by South Florida Caribbean News names 11 school board members from Sarasota, Orange, Manatee, Alachua, Broward, Duval, Miami-Dade and Seminole counties, among them Seminole's Robin Dehlinger of District 4. They say the revenue loss could reach school resource officers, children's services councils that pay for tutoring, summer, mental health and early learning programs, and nonprofits that rely on local grants.
The outlet noted no such cuts have been announced. Miami-Dade board member Joseph Geller said the amendment would "rob too many kids of the support they need to succeed in school."
At a September workshop, Seminole County officials said the measure could cost the county about $119 million, roughly 21% of its property-tax-supported funds. Sheriff Dennis Lemma has said up to 300 positions in his agency could be at risk. No published estimate from Seminole County Public Schools on the amendment's effect turned up in our search.
The supporters' case
Gov. Ron DeSantis, who pushed for the measure, says homeowners deserve a break from rapidly growing local tax bills and that cities and counties can spend less. Florida Realtors, which backs the measure, says that because the larger exemption applies only to non-school taxes, "the amendment would not impact school funding."
