Amendment 3 raises Florida's homestead exemption on non-school property taxes to $150,000 from January 1, 2027

If you own and live in your home in Orange, Seminole or Osceola county, have (or apply for) a homestead exemption, and have a permanent residence in Florida by December 31, 2026, the part of its value exempt from property taxes other than school taxes will grow from up to about $50,000 to $150,000 in 2027 and $250,000 in 2028. If you do not, you get $50,000 at first (see below). Florida voters approved the change, Amendment 3, on November 3, 2026. Owners of rentals, second homes and business property get a lower cap on yearly assessment increases instead. School taxes do not change, and Orlando and Orange County expect to lose millions in property tax revenue.

What changed

• The vote. CBS12 reported that 62% of voters voted yes when the race was called, part of a longer sentence that goes on "surpassing the 60% threshold needed to pass". WESH 2 reported the same 62%, according to the Associated Press, and said the amendment is "projected to pass". Both figures are unofficial. This post did not read a certified result.
• The homestead exemption. Kaufman Rossin, a CPA and advisory firm, writes in part of a longer sentence: "The homestead exemption for non-school taxes rises to $150,000 for 2027 and $250,000 for 2028". CBS12, WESH 2 and Spectrum News 13 give the same amounts and say the exemption today is $50,000 or about $50,000; Kaufman Rossin's table says "Up to $51,411 for 2026", so a lower-value home gets less. CBS12 says the exemption will then be adjusted for inflation in later years. Orange County's own page gives the same $150,000 and $250,000 amounts for all levies except school districts.
• School taxes. Kaufman Rossin: "School taxes are unchanged." CBS12 also says school-district property taxes are not affected.
• People who do not have a permanent Florida residence by December 31, 2026. That date is still ahead as of this post, so someone who settles here before it can still meet it. Kaufman Rossin writes: "Anyone who didn’t have a permanent residence in Florida on December 31, 2026 receives a $50,000 non-school exemption until the fifth year of exempted residency." If you move to Florida from another state in 2027, the $150,000 figure does not apply to you at first. Moving to the Orlando area from elsewhere in Florida does not change this, as long as you had a permanent Florida residence on December 31, 2026. The details of this newcomer rule are still to be set: Kaufman Rossin says the Legislature has to write "the rules for administering the new-resident provision" in its 2027 session. Orange County's page also describes a five-year residency period for new residents.
• Rentals, second homes and business property. Kaufman Rossin writes in part of a longer sentence: "The annual cap on assessment increases for non-homestead property drops from 10% to 5%". It says this applies to non-school taxes. CBS12 also reports the cut from 10% to 5%, and says it covers certain rental and commercial properties. Orange County's page gives the same cut for non-homestead property.

When

• Vote: November 3, 2026.
• Takes effect: Kaufman Rossin says: "The amendment takes effect January 1, 2027." CBS12 and Spectrum News 13 give only the years, 2027 for the first step and 2028 for the second, and WESH 2 (November 7, 2026) says "next year" for the first step. The Orange County page also gives years only. They do not contradict Kaufman Rossin. This post goes by January 1, 2027 because Kaufman Rossin is the only source that names a day. It is not a government source, and this post did not read the amendment's own text.
• On your tax papers: Kaufman Rossin says: "Property owners will see these changes on August 2027 TRIM notices and November 2027 tax bills." The TRIM notice is the notice of proposed property taxes that owners get in August.
• Homestead deadline: Kaufman Rossin says: "Homestead applications for 2027 are due March 1."
• Second step: the exemption rises to $250,000 in 2028.

Where

Amendment 3 changes the Florida Constitution, so it applies across the state. This post covers what it means in Orange, Seminole and Osceola counties and their cities.

What it means if you live here

• Homeowners with a homestead exemption who have a permanent Florida residence by December 31, 2026 will pay non-school property taxes on less of their home's value from 2027. They will still pay school taxes as before. Residents new to Florida get the $50,000 exemption first, as above.
• Owners of rentals, second homes and commercial property do not get the larger exemption. Their assessed value can rise by at most 5% a year for non-school taxes, down from 10%.
• City and county leaders expect to lose revenue, and the sources differ on the years. Spectrum News 13 reported on November 9, 2026: "Orlando will lose about $30 million in property tax revenue for fiscal year 2027 and $50 million in 2028, city leaders said." It also reported: "The county expects to lose $165 million in property tax revenue in fiscal year 2027 and $275 million the year after."
• County. Orange County's own page gives about $165 million for its first year (2027) and $275 million for its second (2028). It does not say whether those are fiscal or calendar years, and it was written before the vote, when it called the amendment proposed. The dollar figures agree with Spectrum News 13; only the "fiscal year" label comes from Spectrum.
• City. The City of Orlando's Property Taxes page says that if Amendment 3 passes the city will lose a significant amount of revenue. Its table appears to put about $30 million in fiscal year 2028 and $50 million in fiscal year 2029, under a row about eliminating homestead taxes entirely. This post could not save that table's exact words, so it does not quote it and does not treat the reading as certain. If the table is as described, it disagrees with Spectrum News 13's "fiscal year 2027" and 2028. A 2027 tax-year change would first be billed in November 2027, which falls in the city's fiscal year 2028 (this post's own reasoning). For the city, this post therefore leans toward the city's own page over Spectrum News 13's label, and the amounts of about $30 million and $50 million stay as reported by both, with the years unsettled.
• You can comment on local budgets. Spectrum News 13: "Oviedo leaders urged residents to go to the Nov. 16 council meeting to weigh in on future spending." It also reports that Winter Springs plans a public workshop within a month to hear from residents. It gave no date for the workshop.

What this post did not check

• Certified results. The state's election results page and the Orange County Property Appraiser's site were not read. Orange County's newsroom front page, read November 13, 2026, showed no item on Amendment 3. The county's separate Amendment 3 page, named above, does exist.
• The words of the county and city pages. They are described, not quoted, here, because their text was not saved for quotation.
• The amendment's own text was not read, so the amounts and the January 1, 2027 date rest on the sources named here.