Amendment 3 Result: What It Changes, and Does Not, for Your Mortgage
Amendment 3 passed. In the unofficial results reported November 4, 2026, Florida voters approved it with about sixty-two percent, above the sixty percent it needed. So here is the short version for your mortgage: nothing changes on your next payment, and nothing changes on your 2026 tax bill. The first bills it touches go out in November 2027.
I am not here to tell you whether that vote was good or bad. I am a mortgage broker, not a tax advisor or an attorney. Confirm your own numbers with your county property appraiser.
What did voters actually approve?
Starting January 1, 2027, the homestead exemption on non-school taxes goes to one hundred fifty thousand dollars. On January 1, 2028, it goes to two hundred fifty thousand dollars, with inflation adjustments after that. For property that is not your homestead, like a rental or a second home, the yearly cap on assessment increases drops from ten percent to five percent on non-school taxes.
What did it not change?
School taxes. The school side of your bill keeps the same twenty-five thousand dollar exemption, so most homeowners will still get a bill with school taxes on it.
Save Our Homes stays. Portability stays. Your other exemptions stay. Local governments still set millage rates, and non-ad valorem charges, the stormwater and CDD type lines on your bill, were not part of this. And on that second home, the new cap limits assessed value. It does not limit the tax rate, and a sale or change of ownership still triggers a reassessment at market value the next January 1.
When does my mortgage payment change?
Not in January. This is where people are going to get surprised.
Property tax reaches your loan through escrow, the part of your payment that collects for taxes and insurance and pays them for you. Your servicer sets that deposit from the tax bills it actually sees. The new numbers first show up on August 2027 TRIM notices, then on the November 2027 bills. So any drop in your escrow comes after that, when your servicer runs its next escrow analysis, not on the day the calendar flips.
Your insurance sits in that same escrow account, so if it goes up while taxes come down, your payment reflects both.
Does it help me qualify to buy a home?
Over time, a lower tax figure leaves a little more room in your debt-to-income ratio, which is how underwriting measures whether the payment fits your income. But I would not build a purchase budget around a tax bill nobody has seen yet.
Here is why. When you buy, your assessment resets after the sale, so the seller's bill is not your bill. School taxes are still there. And the exemption has to be yours before it helps you. Ask me what tax figure the file will use on the home you are looking at, and plan around that. All of it is subject to credit approval and full underwriting.
I am moving to Florida. Does the date matter?
It might matter a lot. People without a permanent Florida residence on December 31, 2026 start with the existing exemption, and the larger one begins with their fifth year of exemption, "to the extent permitted by the U.S. Constitution." That language was questioned before the vote, and one accounting firm's update on the result says the Legislature still has to set the rules for running it. If you are relocating, call the property appraiser before you assume anything.
What is still not settled?
The details. On November 4, 2026, the governor said he would call a special session before his term ends in early January, and when I wrote this no date had been set. Implementing bills can change how things work on the ground. So treat everything here as current as of November 5, 2026, and check the official results and your property appraiser before you lean on it.
So what do I do right now?
The same boring thing that was smart before the vote. A bigger exemption only helps if you actually have homestead on the home. If you own and live in the home on January 1, 2027, the filing deadline for that year is March 1, 2027. You have time, and there is nothing to rush into. If you closed this year, file once you have closed and moved in.
How homestead works, step by step, is on my Florida homestead exemption page. If you want to talk through taxes and escrow on a home you own or a home you are buying, call or text (941) 941-5150.
This is general education, not tax, legal or financial advice for your specific situation.
Tony Fitzgerald, NMLS #1284924.
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Tony Fitzgerald, NMLS #1284924. 1st Response Mortgage, powered by Mpire Financial Group LLC, NMLS #2108504, Florida Mortgage Lender License #MLD2467. Equal Housing Lender. NMLS Consumer Access: nmlsconsumeraccess.org. This article is general education, not financial, tax, or legal advice, and not an offer of credit or a commitment to lend. Terms vary by borrower, property, and transaction, and program guidelines change over time.
