Moving to Florida? Amendment 3 Passed. Live There by December 31 or Wait Five Years for the $250,000 Homestead Break.

Update, November 4, 2026: It passed. Amendment 3 got about 62% of the vote on November 3, per CBS12 and FOX 13, two points over the 60% it needed. Amendments 1 and 2 failed. So the December 31, 2026 residency line below is no longer hypothetical: you have 57 days. The legislature still has to write the rules for proving residency. The math below hasn’t changed. The action steps now include the March 1 filing deadline.

If you’re planning to move to Florida and buy a house, the calendar just started to matter. Amendment 3 passed on November 3, so anyone who wasn’t living in Florida on December 31, 2026 gets a much smaller homestead break for four years.

The difference is up to $200,000 of taxable value a year.

What voters just passed

Florida already shields part of a homestead’s value from property tax. Today it’s $25,000 off every levy, plus a second $25,000 off everything but school taxes.

Amendment 3 blows that up starting January 1. The school exemption stays at $25,000. Everything else gets $150,000 off in 2027 and $250,000 off starting in 2028, with inflation adjustments after that. The ballot summary goes further and says the legislature must write “a schedule for full elimination” of those taxes on homesteads.

Then comes the catch, tucked into the resolution text. A homesteader who “had not maintained a permanent residence in this state as of December 31, 2026” gets $25,000 off school levies and $50,000 off the rest. They move up to the full amount “beginning with the fifth year of exemption.”

Translation: newcomers get roughly today’s deal for four more years while their neighbors get the new one.

The ballot language sells this as “ensuring fairness for Florida residents.” That’s one word for it. Another is a moving penalty.

What it costs you

Run it on a house in the city of Orlando. The Orange County Property Appraiser lists the city’s proposed 2026 rate at 6.65 mills, which is $6.65 per $1,000 of taxable value.

A $200,000 exemption gap times 6.65 mills is $1,330 a year. Over four years, that’s $5,320 on the city levy alone. County, water-district and other non-school levies stack on top of that, so the real gap is bigger. The Orlando tax codes on the same sheet total roughly 18 to 19 mills, school taxes included.

If you already own a Florida homestead, the math runs the other way: roughly $200,000 less taxable value, every year, starting in 2028.

Here’s what the sales pitch skips. That money funded something. Orange County estimates the exemption cuts its collections by $165 million in 2027 and $275 million in 2028. Watch for new fees and assessments, which the homestead exemption doesn’t touch.

Do this now

If you’re already living in Florida, renting or owning, you’re likely on the right side of the line. The text says “permanent residence,” not “owned a home.” The legislature hasn’t written the proof rules yet, so keep dated paperwork showing you lived here in 2026: your lease, utility bills, your Florida driver’s license.

If you’re planning a move for early 2027, move the date up if you can. Moving in December instead of January could be worth more than $5,000 in Orlando city taxes alone.

If you’re buying, budget your escrow on the reduced exemption for the first four years, not the headline one. Plug the tax into our mortgage calculator and check our closing costs guide before you sign. Then shop lenders on our best mortgages page.

Already living in a Florida home you own but never filed for the homestead exemption? Put March 1, 2027 on the calendar. Florida law says you need title on January 1 and an application in by March 1, and missing it waives the break for that year. Closing after January 1, 2027? Your clock is a year later. That March 1 date is the one that turns the new $150,000 into an actual smaller bill.

The detail

Amendment 3 touches second homes and small rentals too. Their annual assessment cap drops from 10% to 5% in 2027. The amendment also limits county and city property taxes to a short list of “core” uses, including public safety, schools, infrastructure and debt service.

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