Amendment 3 is on Florida's November 3, 2026 ballot as property-tax relief. On Palm Beach Island, the relief mostly goes to people who already own their homes. A purchase triggers a reassessment to full market value whether or not the measure passes. The only relief from that is portability, which applies to some buyers moving from another Florida homestead. After that reset, the amendment makes it cheaper to keep a home than to buy one. The island already has a wide gap between what homes are worth and what they are taxed on, so the effect is larger here than in most of Florida.
That changes how to read a Palm Beach listing this fall. The seller's tax bill shows what holding the property has cost the seller. A buyer's own carrying costs start from a different number.
The seller's tax bill stops applying after one year
Florida caps how fast assessed values can rise, and both caps end when a property is sold. The Palm Beach County Property Appraiser's Office explains that buying a non-homestead property keeps the seller's 10% cap in place for the rest of the purchase year. After that, "Florida law states that the property must be reassessed at full market value in the year following the sale." The same reset is written into Florida Statute 193.1554, which requires reassessment at just value on January 1 after a change of ownership or control. Homesteaded property resets the same way under Statute 193.155, subject to the statute's portability provision, which is covered below.
Amendment 3 keeps that reset. The enrolled text of HJR 1-F lowers the annual cap on qualifying non-homestead residential property to 5% starting January 1, 2027. It also says that after a change of ownership, "such property shall be assessed at just value as of the next assessment date." In short, the buyer pays tax on market value first, and the lower cap only applies after that.
| Owner who keeps the home | Buyer of a non-homestead home | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting point for assessment | Years of capped growth, often well below market value | Reset to full market value on the January 1 after closing |
| Annual cap on non-school levies if Amendment 3 passes | 5% starting 2027 | 5%, but only after the reset |
| Effect of the lower cap | Keeps a gap that already exists | Slows a new gap from forming |
The island's gap between market value and taxable value is the real benefit
Property Appraiser Dorothy Jacks gave the Town Council figures in August 2026 that show how large that gap already is. According to the Palm Beach Civic Association's account, the total 2026 market value of property in Palm Beach is nearly $59.5 billion. Total taxable value is $37.7 billion, about 63% of market value. The Civic Association attributes the difference to state caps and exemptions, which slow how fast tax calculations catch up with sale prices.
Most of that $21.8 billion gap belongs to people who have owned for a long time. A sale erases it for that property. Jacks also said taxable values in Palm Beach rose 9% over the prior year, compared with 7.3% countywide. When values rise that fast, a 5% cap opens the gap faster than a 10% cap does. Any owner who has held a home through a strong run benefits from the slower cap. A buyer starts that clock again at zero.
The lower cap also changes the math for sellers. Today, a long-time non-homestead owner who sells gives up a 10% cap. Under Amendment 3, the same owner would give up a 5% cap, which is worth more every year the home is held. More of the cost of moving would sit in the tax basis an owner leaves behind, so the incentive leans toward holding. That logic follows from how the caps work. Nobody yet knows how many owners would respond to it.
New arrivals wait for the larger exemption
The homestead side of the amendment is the larger exemption. The Florida Department of State summary raises the exemption for all non-school taxes to $150,000 in 2027 and $250,000 in 2028, with inflation adjustments after that. The summary also includes a residency cutoff that matters to anyone relocating to the island.
For someone buying in Palm Beach and planning to make it a primary residence, the sequence under the amendment's text runs as follows:
- Before December 31, 2026. The DOS summary says people who are not Florida residents on that date receive only the existing homestead exemption when they first qualify.
- January 1 of the qualifying year. The Property Appraiser's Office says an owner must qualify for homestead as of January 1.
- March 1. This is the filing deadline for the exemption. It does not carry over from a previous residence. A new application is required.
- The fifth year of exemption. For those later arrivals, the larger exemption starts here, "to the extent permitted by the U.S. Constitution," in the summary's words.
The current exemption is usually described as $50,000. The Coastal Star put this year's inflation-adjusted figure at $51,411. In both cases, a household arriving after the cutoff starts years behind a neighbor who was already a Florida resident. Save Our Homes caps growth on a homestead at 3% or the change in the Consumer Price Index, whichever is lower. The Civic Association reported this year's cap as 2.7%. That cap also restarts from market value in the first year of homestead, unless the buyer brings a portability benefit.
Buyers moving from another Florida homestead have that one carryover, and it can put the new assessment below market value. The Property Appraiser's Office says Amendment 3 does not change Save Our Homes or portability. Portability can transfer up to $500,000 of an eligible prior homestead's assessment difference to a new Florida homestead.
Why the Town of Palm Beach can absorb it and the county may not
The island's ownership mix explains why the Town of Palm Beach is fairly protected while the county faces a much larger loss. In 2025, Palm Beach had 7,564 residential parcels, and 3,465 of them carried the homestead exemption, according to Jacks. That leaves more than half of residential parcels as second homes, rentals, and other non-homestead property, which gets no bigger exemption under the amendment. Only 291 properties on the island would owe no non-school property tax at the $250,000 exemption level.
Jacks put the town's 2025 property-tax collections at about $90.4 million. She said the current exemption costs the town nearly $588,000. At $250,000, the loss would grow to more than $2.2 million, about 2% of total tax revenue. Property taxes fund roughly two-thirds of the town's $127.3 million budget for the fiscal year ending September 30. The town's own rate is $2.61 per $1,000 of taxable value, and Palm Beach collects about 17 cents of each property-tax dollar owners pay. The rest goes to the Palm Beach County School District, the county, and other taxing authorities.
The other 83 cents are where the pressure builds. Jacks said Palm Beach County could lose $324 million in revenue in the amendment's second year. In The Coastal Star, County Administrator Joe Abruzzo estimated a $230 million loss to the general fund and a $100 million loss to Fire Rescue. Florida TaxWatch, using July 2026 state revenue estimates, projects a $45.8 billion statewide cut in local property taxes from FY 2027-28 through FY 2031-32. Jacks addressed what that could mean for owners who do not get the exemption:
"[Amendment 3] is a reduction in your [taxable] value. It is not a reduction in your [tax] rates. There is no reason why taxing districts could not raise their rates. The cap on property tax rates is 10 mils."
On an island where most residential parcels are non-homestead, those owners would pay any rate increase on their full assessed value with no larger exemption to soften it. School levies are a separate case. The larger exemption stops at the $25,000 that already applies to school taxes, and the Property Appraiser notes that the non-homestead cap has never applied to school board millage.
What the Property Appraiser's calculator leaves out
The Palm Beach County Property Appraiser's Office launched an Amendment 3 calculator in late September. WFLX reported that it looks up a property by address and shows current estimated taxes, projected changes for 2027 and 2028 if the measure passes, and estimated effects on local taxing districts, using 2026 certified values and millage rates.
The calculator only works for properties that currently receive a homestead exemption. It does not calculate the non-homestead cap reduction, and it presents its results as estimates, not official figures. Non-homestead parcels do not qualify for the larger exemption, and the office notes that it does not set millage rates or budgets. A buyer who looks up a listing's address sees the seller's numbers. The calculator does not show what the buyer's own taxes would be after the January 1 reset.
Questions buyers are asking this fall
Is Amendment 3 definitely on the ballot? Yes. In August, a Leon County circuit judge rejected the original title, "Save Our Homes From Excessive Property Taxes," as advocacy. The Leon County Clerk's docket shows that the defendants declined to appeal on August 13, and the plaintiffs declined to challenge the revised wording on August 14. The Department of State lists the revised measure as active and as Ballot Number 3. It needs 60% voter approval.
If it passes, when does it take effect? January 1, 2027, according to the DOS summary. The 5% non-homestead cap also starts that day.
Does it change what a property can be taxed on in the year of purchase? No. The seller's cap stays for the rest of the purchase year. Reassessment to market value follows on the next January 1 under current law and under the amendment's text.
A Palm Beach listing's tax history shows what holding the home has cost its owner. Unless portability applies, your own carrying costs will start from market value, and after November 3 a 5% cap may decide how fast they grow. If you would like to model a specific property's January 1 reset, its homestead timing and the questions to raise before an offer, Marine Rollins offers a confidential review. Schedule a private waterfront consultation.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
