Amendment 3 stands above the 60% requirement in Florida’s unofficial count; Amendments 1 and 2 are below it

Amendment 3, the property tax measure, stood at 61.98% in the state’s unofficial count Wednesday, above the 60% the state’s results page lists as required to pass. Amendments 1 and 2 were below 60%, as the page showed them when SignalData opened it at 4:01 p.m.¹

• Amendment 1, Budget Stabilization Fund: 3,170,557 yes (40.9%), 4,580,981 no (59.1%).
• Amendment 2, tangible personal property on agricultural land: 4,542,890 yes (58.21%), 3,260,799 no (41.79%).
• Amendment 3, homestead exemption and non-homestead assessment cap: 4,917,796 yes (61.98%), 3,016,195 no (38.02%).

Amendment 1 would raise the fund’s ceiling from 10% to 25% of general revenue collections.² Amendment 2 would exempt certain tangible personal property on agricultural land from property tax.³ The Division of Elections’ timeline has the Elections Canvassing Commission certifying official returns by 8 a.m. Nov. 17.⁴

By SignalData’s calculation from the state’s county table, opened at 3:59 p.m., the yes share reached 60% or more in 58 of 67 counties, with Palm Beach closest to the line, at 60.005%. The nine below 60% were Alachua, Broward, Duval, Gadsden, Hillsborough, Leon, Orange, Pinellas and Seminole.⁵

Special session

Gov. Ron DeSantis said at a Capitol news conference Wednesday that he will call lawmakers into special session before he leaves office in early January, the News Service of Florida reported. As quoted by the News Service, he said it would “set the schedule for further homestead exemption” and limit local governments from “just doing an end run around the amendment.”⁶

The governor’s press release page and executive order list showed no proclamation calling a session when SignalData opened them about 4 p.m. Their newest entries were dated Oct. 30 and Nov. 2.⁷⁸

What the amendment’s text says

• Homestead exemption: for non-school levies, up to $150,000 of assessed value beginning Jan. 1, 2027, and $250,000 beginning Jan. 1, 2028, adjusted yearly for inflation beginning Jan. 1, 2029.
• School districts: up to $25,000, and the assessment cap below does not apply.
• New residents: a person without a permanent Florida residence as of Dec. 31, 2026, gets up to $50,000 on non-school levies, adjusted for inflation beginning Jan. 1, 2028, and the larger amount in the fifth year of exemption, to the extent the U.S. Constitution permits, the ballot summary says. Beginning on or after Jan. 1, 2030, a county or city may shorten that wait by a two-thirds vote of its governing body’s membership for a “critical local need.”
• Assessment cap: the yearly limit on increases for non-homestead property drops from 10% to 5% beginning Jan. 1, 2027.
• Local exemptions: the Legislature must set a uniform procedure for counties and cities to raise the exemption, for their own levies, up to all remaining assessed value. A special district may do so by referendum, no more than once in 12 months.
• Local spending: county and city property taxes may be used only for public safety, education and schools, infrastructure, natural resource projects, bonds and debt service, employee retirement benefits, and operations and administration, including expenditures local officials approve unless general law prohibits them.
• Effective date: Jan. 1, 2027.⁹

The state’s estimate

The Revenue Estimating Conference’s July 10 estimate measures local property tax collections, not the state budget or any household’s bill. If the amendment passed, it projected non-school collections $4,929.5 million lower in fiscal year 2027-28. Separately, it adopted a recurring reduction of $11,834.7 million, the sixth year’s cash impact. It showed no effect on school taxes. It called the uniform local procedure’s impact unknown because it depends on future legislation.¹⁰

What the records do not show

• No record SignalData found sets a date or agenda for a special session.
• The amendment’s text sets no deadline for the Legislature’s uniform procedure.
• The results pages carry no time stamp and do not say whether ballots remain uncounted. The counts are unofficial and can change.