Florida Property Tax Amendment Submitted with New Wording

A proposed amendment to the Florida Constitution appearing on the ballot this November has been resubmitted with a new wording. Amendment 3, which would phase out the bulk of residential property taxes over several years, now looks considerably different than it did just weeks ago. The change was ordered earlier in August by Circuit Judge David Frank. A group called Save Our Voters from Misleading Ballot Language sued alleging misleading and biased language in how Amendment 3 would be presented to voters. Judge Frank agreed. Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier was ordered in the ruling to submit a new wording within ten days. He has now complied with this requirement, changing Amendment 3 with language intended to be less persuasive in nature. What Changed? The most immediately visible change is the amendment’s name. The original title, ‘Save Our Homes From Excessive Property Taxes’, has been dropped. Its replacement is ‘Increased Homestead Exemption; Lower Cap on Increases in Non-Homesteaded Property Assessments’. Uthmeier also changed the ballot summary. It now reads as follows: “This amendment increases the homestead exemption, for all non-school taxes, to $150,000 in 2027 and $250,000 in 2028, and adjusts for inflation thereafter. It requires the Legislature to prescribe a uniform procedure for counties and municipalities, for their respective levies, to increase the homestead exemption up to full assessed value, and allows special districts, subject to referendum approval, to do the same.” “We applaud the Court for its thorough review of Amendment 3 and its ballot language,” Edie Ousley, a spokesperson for Vote No on Amendment 3. “Judge David Frank’s ruling and the subsequent ballot language rewrite confirm what we’ve long known – this amendment is a wolf in sheep’s clothing.” Moving Forward The actual effects of the proposed amendment remain the same. If approved, the amount of tax exemption for homesteaded properties would increase to $150,000 in 2027 and $250,000 in 2028 before then adjusting for inflation. For passage, the amendment must receive approval from 60% of voters. If the amendment is passed, most residential property owners in Florida would soon see greatly reduced tax bills. This has driven many top Florida officials to endorse the measure, including Gov. Ron DeSantis, U.S. Senator Rick Scott, and Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia. Conversely, local governments would see substantially reduced revenue in the coming years. This has prompted concern over funding for emergency services; organizations such as the Fraternal Order of Police and Florida Professional Firefighters have spoken against the measure.