The Florida State Legislature voted to place a constitutional amendment on the general election ballot on June 2, 2026. The amendment would expand the homestead exemption for non-school property taxes, reduce the cap on assessment increases for non-homestead properties, and limit how local governments can spend property tax revenue.

Legislators approved the constitutional amendment during a special legislative session called by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R). The House voted 75-26, and the Senate voted 30-9. The amendment requires 60% voter approval to take effect.

What the amendment would change

The constitutional amendment would make several changes related to property taxes in Florida.

Homestead exemption expansion: Currently, Florida homeowners who use a property as their primary residence receive two property tax exemptions: the first $25,000 of their home's assessed value is exempt from all property taxes, including school taxes, and an additional $25,000 is exempt from non-school taxes only.

A homestead exemption allows homeowners who use a property as their primary residence to exempt a portion of its assessed value from property taxes, reducing the amount they owe.

The amendment would expand the non-school tax exemption from $25,000 to $150,000 in 2027 and $250,000 in 2028, with inflation indexing starting in 2029. The $25,000 exemption for all property taxes would apply only to school property taxes in the future. As a result, there would be two separate homestead exemptions: a larger exemption for non-school property taxes and the existing $25,000 exemption for school property taxes.

New resident phase-in period: People who move to Florida after December 31, 2026, would receive a smaller initial exemption and would have to live in the state for five years before qualifying for the full exemption.

Non-homestead assessment cap: The existing 10% cap on annual assessment increases for non-homestead properties, such as rental units, vacation homes, commercial properties, and apartment buildings, would decrease to 5% starting January 1, 2027. Like the homestead exemption increase, the cap decrease does not apply to school district taxes.

Limits on local government spending: Counties and municipalities would be limited to spending property tax revenue on public safety, education, infrastructure, natural resource projects, and flood control; local bonds and existing debt payments; employee retirement benefits; and the operations and administration of local government.

Ability to raise exemptions further: The legislature would be required to establish a uniform procedure allowing counties and municipalities to raise homestead exemptions beyond the constitutional minimum, up to the full remaining assessed value. Special districts could do the same through a local referendum.

Legislative staff estimated the amendment would reduce local government revenue across the state by $4.6 billion in fiscal year 2027-28 and $8.4 billion in fiscal year 2028-29.

Arguments for and against

State Sen. Bryan Avila (R-39), who voted for the amendment, said, "Our nation was forged by pioneer patriots who left everything behind and risked their lives for the dream of living in freedom on their own piece of property. We agree with Governor DeSantis that having to continually pay the government for the right to live on your own property flies in the face of that dream. This amendment takes a historic step, providing meaningful relief for Florida families, while protecting businesses from extreme tax increases and safeguarding local funding for education, law enforcement, infrastructure, and other essential government functions."

Sadaf Knight, CEO of the Florida Policy Institute, spoke against the amendment, saying, "State lawmakers should be focused on real solutions to Florida's affordability issues, which include skyrocketing health care and energy costs. Unfortunately, this property tax reform measure does not represent cost savings, but rather a cost shift — one that will force local lawmakers to cut local services that families rely upon or increase other taxes and fees to make up for the missing revenue. In either case, everyday Floridians ultimately pay the price for the massive loss in property tax revenue."

Path to the ballot

Gov. DeSantis called a special legislative session for June 1 through June 3, 2026, to consider the constitutional amendment. He said, "Florida homeowners need relief. Now is the time to stand up for taxpayers, enact a historic reform, and save the home of every Floridian."

The version that passed differed from DeSantis's original proposal. The governor's proposal would have applied the expanded exemption to all property taxes, including those levied by schools. State Rep. Sam Garrison (R-11) sponsored an amendment, adopted by the House State Affairs Committee, that excluded school taxes from the exemption.

Both legislative chambers approved the amendment on June 2. The House voted 75-26, with 17 members not voting. The Senate voted 30-9, with one member not voting. Across both chambers, excluding members who were absent or did not vote, 98% of Republicans and 11% of Democrats voted in favor of the constitutional amendment.

The resolution included a 125-word ballot question. Florida law caps ballot questions at 75 words. The legislature passed a separate bill exempting the constitutional amendment from the word count cap.

How homestead property taxes work in Florida

In Florida, a home’s assessed value starts at market value when the property is first assessed. After that, annual increases in assessed value are limited to 3% or the change in the Consumer Price Index, whichever is lower, unless the property changes ownership or another reassessment event occurs. Voters approved the 3% limit with Amendment 10 in 1992. Over time, a home’s assessed value can fall below its market value if the market value increases by more than 3% per year. The taxable value of a home is the assessed value minus any exemptions, such as the homestead exemption.

Local taxing authorities set property tax rates, which are applied to a home’s taxable value. The Florida Constitution caps most local property tax rates at 10 mills, which is $1,000 per $100,000 of taxable value, for each taxing authority. A homeowner may pay property taxes to several taxing authorities, including the county, a municipality, the school district, and any special districts. In Miami, for example, the combined millage rate in 2025 was 19.9878 mills. That means a homeowner paid about $1,999 in property taxes for every $100,000 of taxable value.

Florida's Nov. 3, 2026, ballot

Unless another special session is called, Florida voters will decide three state ballot measures on Nov. 3, 2026. No signatures were submitted for citizen-initiated ballot measures in 2026. All three measures on the ballot are legislatively referred constitutional amendments, and each requires 60% voter approval to pass. The other two constitutional amendments are:

• Exempt Tangible Personal Property Used for Agriculture or Agritourism from Property Taxes Amendment: The constitutional amendment would exempt tangible personal property, such as farm equipment or tools, from property taxes if the property is typically present on agricultural land, used for farming or agritourism activities, and owned by the landowner or leaseholder of the land.
• Changes to Budget Stabilization Fund Amendment: The constitutional amendment would increase the amount that may be kept in the budget stabilization fund from 10% to 25% of net general revenue, require an annual transfer to the fund of $750 million or 25% of general revenue collections, whichever is less, and allow the legislature to suspend the transfer under certain conditions.

Since the 1980s, the average number of state ballot measures in Florida has been between three and four.