The Florida homestead exemption is getting bigger, and that is the headline everyone is covering. Amendment 3 passed in Florida, and on this standalone episode of The Price Regulator, Abe goes through it fast: the new exemption, the two catches that come with it, and then the part he says nobody is covering. If you own rentals, vacation homes, apartments or commercial property in Florida, the cap on how fast your assessment can rise just changed. Here is what changed and what to watch. This is opinion only, not financial advice.
What Florida voters passed with Amendment 3
Abe opens with what voters actually did: they took money away from their own local governments and handed it back to property owners. His point is that almost nobody reading the headline understands that. Florida amendment 3 in 2026 is property tax relief in two halves. The first is a larger exemption for people who homestead, meaning the home is their primary residence. The second is a lower ceiling on how fast the assessed value of everything else can climb. Most coverage stops at the first half. Abe covers it quickly, because in his view the second half is the part that matters most to investors.
The new Florida homestead exemption
A homestead exemption takes part of your home's assessed value off the tax bill when it is your primary residence. Under Amendment 3, the Florida homestead exemption on non school taxes goes up in 2027 and again in 2028. Abe calls it a significant bump. Then comes the part most people missed: starting in 2029, the exemption is adjusted every year to keep pace with inflation, so it keeps growing on its own. One thing the headlines skip is that most homesteads already get a larger exemption on non school taxes today than the base amount, so the increase builds from there. Your county property appraiser can confirm what it means for your home.
Two catches: school taxes and the residency date
There are two catches. First, it does not touch school taxes. The school tax exemption stays exactly where it is today. That answers the worry that schools will lose funding: the school portion is untouched, and Abe points out it is the biggest line on your bill. Second, timing. If you were not a Florida resident by December 31, 2026, you do not get the bigger number right away. You start with the exemption that exists today, and the larger one begins in your fifth year. As Abe puts it, Florida just put a clock on your move here. If you are planning to relocate, that date matters.
Non homestead property: the cap drops from 10% to 5%
Here is the part Abe actually cares about. The cap on yearly assessment increases for non homestead property drops from 10% to 5% a year on non school taxes. That covers rentals, vacation homes, apartments and commercial property: plazas, industrial, you name it. Think about what that means in a market that runs hot every year. The appraiser used to be able to walk your assessment up by the full cap every single year, and it compounded. Now that ceiling has been cut in half, permanently, for the non school part of the bill. The school portion of the bill on non homestead property is not covered by the new cap.
Why the old cap hurt net lease deals
Abe calls the old cap a silent killer on a net lease deal. Your rent bumps might grow slowly each year while the tax line could climb much faster. When that happens, your NOI gets eaten alive by a number you do not even control. We showed how the tax line can change the NOI after a purchase in the math to do before you make an offer on a warehouse. Under the new cap, that ceiling is lower.
What local governments may do next
There is another side to this. Local governments are projected to lose a lot of revenue, and that money has to come from somewhere. Abe expects them to try to get it back, so watch your millage, your special assessments and your impact fees, because all of it can affect your bottom line. These are the Florida property tax changes to keep an eye on next. Abe is already underwriting every Florida deal on his desk with the new cap. If you own anything in Florida and you are not rerunning your numbers now, he says you are probably leaving money on the table.
