New ballot language for a state constitutional amendment that could change how property taxes are determined was released Thursday after a state judge rejected the original title and summary.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier submitted a rewritten ballot summary for Amendment 3 after Circuit Judge David Frank in Leon County ruled last week that the original title and text functioned as political advocacy rather than an objective explanation.
The revised language for Amendment 3 spells out proposed changes to the homestead exemption and the annual cap on assessment increases for certain non-homestead properties.
The original title, “Save Our Homes From Excessive Property Taxes,” was replaced with “Increased Homestead Exemption, Lower Cap on Increases in Non-Homestead Property Assessments.”
If approved by 60 percent of the voters in the November 3 general election, the constitutional amendment would take effect on January 1.
What Amendment 3 would do
Amendment 3 would increase the property tax exemption for homestead properties to $150,000 in 2027, and then to $250,000 in 2028. It would be indexed to inflation after that. The homestead exemption is currently $50,000.
The first $25,000 of the exemption would continue to apply to all taxing authorities. School districts would continue to be exempt from the exemption above that level.
New homeowners in Florida would continue to receive only the $50,000 exemption for their first five years as a state resident.
The cap on taxable values of non-homestead properties would be reduced to 5 percent instead of the current 10 percent.
Impact on Palm Beach
The change in proposed ballot language comes as local governments across the state weigh the impact of reductions in property tax revenue. Municipalities, schools and other local governments in Florida typically rely heavily on property taxes to provide essential services.
The Town of Palm Beach relies on property tax revenue to fund roughly two-thirds of its $127.3 million budget for the year that ends September 30.
Palm Beach County Property Appraiser Dorothy Jacks appeared before the Palm Beach Town Council Wednesday to discuss the impact of the property tax amendment.
Uthmeier’s rewrite must be approved by Judge Frank before it can go on the November 3 ballot. Jacks told the council that, if the judge orders additional revisions and the matter isn’t resolved in a timely manner, things could reach a point where county elections supervisors can no longer wait for the approved ballot language and still be able to prepare a sufficient number of ballots for the election.
If time runs out, Jacks said, “One idea might be to just let it go and really work on it in a much more thoughtful and holistic way [to potentially take effect the following year] in 2028. That’s what we hope for.”
As of 2025, the number of parcels in Palm Beach is 9,256, including 7,564 residential. Of the residential, 3,465 parcels have the homestead exemption, Jacks said.
In Palm Beach, only 291 properties would avoid all non-school property taxes under the new $250,000 exemption, she said.
Based on the most recent numbers in 2025, Palm Beach collects about $90.4 million in property taxes. The revenue loss from the $50,000 homestead exemption is nearly $588,000, Jacks said.
The town’s revenue loss under the $250,000 exemption would increase to more than $2.2 million, or a loss of about 2 percent of total tax revenue, Jacks said.
“The concern of course is the larger picture across all the taxing districts in Palm Beach County, [with] Palm Beach County itself looking to lose $324 million in revenue in their second year, a significant number,” Jacks said.
When you add the revenue loss to other local tax districts, including the Health Care District of Palm Beach County, Children’s Services Council, South Florida Water Management District, and Florida Inland Navigation District, the overall revenue impact is significant, she said.
“The purpose of the amendment is [to provide] more assistance for long-term homeowners, but at what cost?” Jacks said.
Tax rates
Each year, every tax district approves its own property tax rate which, along with the taxable value of a property, determines how much each owner will pay.
Palm Beach’s tax rate is $2.61 per $1,000 of taxable, which is low among Palm Beach County municipalities. Palm Beach collects roughly 17 cents of every property tax dollar paid by owners in the town. The remainder goes to the Palm Beach County School District, the county, and the other tax authorities.
Said Jacks, “As some of my peers in other counties have pointed out, [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 [$10.00 per $1,000 of taxable value].”
Taxable values
The total 2026 market value of properties in Palm Beach has reached nearly $59.5 billion, Jacks said.
The town’s total taxable (or assessed) value is $37.7 billion, which is about 63 percent of the market value, she said.
In Florida, taxable values are lower than market values because state laws cap annual increases in property assessments and subtract specific exemptions. The market value reflects true sale prices, but state protections slow down how fast tax calculations can catch up.
The Florida “Save Our Homes” amendment limits annual increases in the assessed value of homestead properties to a maximum of 3 percent or the percent change in the Consumer Price Index, whichever is lower. The cap, which is 2.7 percent this year, protects permanent residents from steep property tax spikes driven by surging real estate market values.
Year-over-year taxable values in Palm Beach were up 9 percent over last year, compared to a 7.3 percent increase countywide, according to Jacks.
To receive Palm Beach TV, Our Town News, The Civic and more in your inbox sign up HERE.
To sign up for text notifications from Palm Beach Civic Association go HERE.
Our Town sponsored by:
