Miami, Florida: Amendment 3 Passes as Miami-Dade Backs a Bigger Homestead Exemption by 65.6 Percent

Florida voters approved Amendment 3 on Tuesday, November 3, and Miami-Dade County backed the property tax measure by a wider margin than the state. The Associated Press called the amendment approved. Unofficial results put the statewide vote at 4,917,482 yes to 3,015,840 no, or 61.99 percent, above the 60 percent a Florida constitutional amendment needs. In Miami-Dade, the Florida Division of Elections unofficial county table read at about 1:40 a.m. Wednesday, with all precincts reporting, showed 488,756 yes votes and 256,548 no votes, or 65.6 percent. The results are unofficial until they are certified.

The amendment raises the homestead exemption for non-school property taxes to $150,000 in 2027 and to $250,000 in 2028, up from about $50,000 today, with inflation adjustments after 2028. For rentals, second homes and commercial property, it lowers the yearly cap on assessment increases for non-school taxes from 10 percent to 5 percent. School taxes do not change. The new rules take effect on January 1, 2027.

What homeowners could save

Miami-Dade Property Appraiser Tomas Regalado estimated during the campaign that a tax bill of about $6,000 could fall to about $4,367 in 2027 and about $3,289 in 2028, at current tax rates. Those are estimates, not promises. What a household saves depends on the assessed value of the home and the rate its city and county set each year. Renters do not get the exemption, because it applies only to homes that people own and live in, the county said in its Amendment 3 guide for voters.

The cost the county warned about

Miami-Dade's government told voters before Election Day what the amendment would cost at current rates: about $385.8 million less in the budget year starting October 2027 and about $696.7 million less starting October 2028. The county's Amendment 3 page lists property tax support for six areas: Fire Rescue at $743.7 million, transit at $407.1 million, parks at $130.8 million, libraries at $128.5 million, community services at $66.4 million and animal services at $31 million. County commissioners can still set the tax rate each year, and the ballot text sets no new limit on what they may levy, so the fight now moves to the county budget hearings held before October 2027.

Governor Ron DeSantis, who backed the measure, wrote on X: "Big win on Amendment 3 for Florida homeowners!" Commissioner Roberto J. Gonzalez, a leading local defender of the amendment, also praised the result and tied it to the cost of local government. Mayor Daniella Levine Cava opposed the amendment. She told WLRN in October: "There is no free lunch here. There will be a cost shift and not really a tax cut." Her office had not published a post-election budget plan when the Miami Patriot checked.

The rest of the Miami ballot

Two other statewide amendments fell short. Amendment 1, a larger budget stabilization fund, failed with about 41 percent support, and Amendment 2, a tax exemption for farm equipment, reached about 58 percent, short of the 60 percent needed. In the City of Miami, voters approved a $450 million public safety bond and rejected the Virginia Key marina lease by about 65 percent to 35 percent, WLRN and WSVN reported.