Gov. Ron DeSantis feels good about Attorney General James Uthmeier’s court-ordered revision of Amendment 3, and says he still expects the proposal to get the 60% support needed on November’s ballot.
The measure would increase the homestead exemption to $250,000.
“I do think that will end up on the ballot. I don’t think there’s any way a court can keep it off having made the changes that they’ve made. I know that the Attorney General will submit that, or however that is supposed to work,” DeSantis said at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.
DeSantis spent roughly a year selling his version of property tax reform, which would have included school tax relief and a trust fund for local governments. The Legislature cut those out of the plan. Despite the changes, DeSantis thinks it “should pass” and hopes it does.
“I’m going to be supportive of it, because I think it’s the only way we can guarantee relief through that amendment,” he said.
The Legislature’s title, “Save Our Homes From Excessive Property Taxes,” is gone. In its place: “Increased Homestead Exemption; Lower Cap on Increases in Non-Homesteaded Property Assessments.”
“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,” the revised language reads.
Leon County Judge David Frank ruled this month that the original summary endorsed the amendment and amounted to “political rhetoric.” He also objected to claims that the measure protects core services, safeguards small businesses and ensures “fairness for Florida residents.”
His ruling capped three consolidated lawsuits brought by the nonprofit Save Our Voters From Misleading Ballot Language, former Stuart Mayor Thomas Campenni, former Key Biscayne Mayor Michael Davey, former South Miami Mayor Philip Stoddard, former Democratic U.S. Rep. Al Lawson and former Republican state Sen. Jeff Brandes.
The ruling and the remedy suffices for plaintiffs, said Jamie Cole, one of the attorneys representing the plaintiffs in the property tax ballot lawsuit.
“The rewritten ballot question addresses the issues we raised, and is now fair and accurate. We commend the Attorney General for doing so. The new language accomplished what we set out to do, and we will not be objecting to the new ballot language. Now it is up to the voters to become fully informed and decide this important issue.”
A.G. Gancarski has been the Northeast Florida correspondent for Florida Politics since 2014. His work also can be seen in the Washington Post, the New York Post, the Washington Times, and National Review, among other publications. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter: @AGGancarski
August 14, 2026 at 4:17 pm
Lipstick on a pig. The proposed amendment will still do irreparable harm to local governments and force them to rely on the political whims of Tallahassee for handouts to repair their roads, fund their parks, keep public libraries functioning, etc. This is centralization of power, the very thing Florida Republicans used to decry as undemocratic — when they weren’t in power, of course. Now that they are in power, they want more. They want to be in a position to help Floridians whose districts vote Republican while fiscally starving the Democrat leaning districts into submission.
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August 14, 2026 at 4:44 pm
Just how Ronnie drew it up.
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