If you own a home in Ponte Vedra Beach, Jacksonville Beach, or on Amelia Island that isn't where you actually live, you've probably seen Amendment 3 mentioned as a property tax win. For your neighbor down the street who homesteads their house, it likely is one. For you, it works differently, and it's worth fifteen minutes to understand before the vote, not after your next tax bill arrives.
Most of the coverage on Amendment 3 treats it as a single, simple tax cut. It isn't. The amendment does two separate things, and they land on two different kinds of owners.
What changes if you homestead the property
If the home is your primary residence, Amendment 3 increases the exemption you already claim under Save Our Homes. The exemption for non-school property taxes climbs to $150,000 in 2027 and to $250,000 in 2028. That's a meaningful reduction in taxable value, and it's the version of the story most people have heard.
There's a wrinkle here too, though. If you're not yet a Florida resident as of December 31, 2026, the amendment adds a five-year waiting period before you can claim the enhanced exemption once you do establish residency. That matters if you're relocating to the First Coast and planning to make a home here your primary residence — the tax benefit you're picturing may not show up right away.
What changes if you don't homestead the property
This is the part that gets skipped in most of the coverage, and it's the one that actually applies to a lot of owners in this market. Non-homestead property — second homes, rentals, and investment properties — doesn't get the bigger exemption at all. What it gets instead is a lower cap on how fast its assessed value can climb each year: down from 10% to 5%, if voters approve the amendment.
That cap change would apply starting with the 2027 tax roll, based on the same phase-in language that governs the homestead exemption increase. Confirm the exact schedule once the amendment is certified, since implementation details on ballot measures can shift even after a vote passes.
A lower assessment cap is still a benefit — it slows down how quickly your taxable value catches up to market value in a rising market. But it's a smaller, slower benefit than the headline homestead number, and it's easy to assume you're getting the bigger one if you only skim the news.
Second homes and rental properties are common at the price points we work in — Ponte Vedra Beach, Jacksonville Beach, Amelia Island, and the waterfront communities along the First Coast all have plenty of owners who bought a place here without making it their primary residence. If that's you, Amendment 3 is worth tracking for the 5% cap alone, but it's not the tax relief a lot of homesteaded neighbors will see.
Why the timing question matters right now
Two decisions get more complicated by this amendment, and both are worth thinking through before November 3, not after.
- If you're planning to convert a second home into your primary residence. The five-year non-resident waiting period only applies if you weren't a Florida resident as of December 31, 2026. If you're already living here, or you make the move before the end of the year, that clock may work differently for you than for someone relocating in 2027 or later.
- If you're deciding whether to buy a second home now or wait. A home you buy as a second home this year is subject to the current 10% cap until any new rule takes effect. Whether that timing helps or hurts your specific numbers depends on where the property's assessed value sits relative to market value today — which is exactly the kind of math that's different for every address.
This is exactly the kind of question I walk clients through before they make a decision either way. It isn't a reason to rush, and it isn't a reason to wait — it's a reason to run your specific numbers instead of going on the headline version of what Amendment 3 does.
None of this is tax or legal advice. Amendment 3 hasn't passed yet, and even once it does, your own numbers depend on your residency status, your property's assessed value history, and rules that can still be refined during implementation. Confirm the details that matter to your situation with a qualified tax professional before you rely on them.
