Amendment 3 passes statewide, raising questions for Levy County's tax base
Florida voters approved sweeping property tax cuts Tuesday, and local governments from Chiefland to Cedar Key will eventually have to answer for the lost revenue.
What voters approved
More than 60% of Florida voters approved Amendment 3 on Tuesday, a constitutional measure that rewrites how much of a home’s value is shielded from local property taxes. According to WUFT News, the amendment raises the homestead exemption on non-school property taxes from $50,000 to $150,000 in 2027, then to $250,000 in 2028. That is on top of the existing $25,000 exemption that already applies to all property taxes under current Florida Department of Revenue rules. The amendment also cuts the annual assessment-increase cap on non-homestead properties, think second homes and rental units, which make up a share of Cedar Key’s housing stock, from 10% to 5%.
The measure sets a five-year residency requirement to newly qualify for the homestead exemption, though anyone who was already a permanent Florida resident before Dec. 31 will still receive it. The amendment also states a legislative goal of eventually eliminating all non-school property taxes statewide, though that would require further legislative action, not this vote alone.
Why county budgets are watching closely
Property taxes are the single largest revenue source for Florida’s cities and counties, funding law enforcement, fire and emergency services, schools, libraries and animal control, among other local infrastructure. A legislative report produced during a special session held this past summer found the cuts contained in Amendment 3 could strip billions of dollars in revenue from counties statewide over time, according to WUFT News. That report does not break the losses out county by county in the material reviewed for this story, but the statewide mechanism, expanded exemptions plus a lower assessment cap, applies uniformly, meaning Levy County’s budget writers face the same structural pressure as every other county commission in Florida.
For a rural coastal county like Levy, where the tax base includes a mix of homesteaded residents, seasonal and investment property around Cedar Key and Yankeetown, and working waterfront parcels, a sustained drop in non-homestead assessment growth and a tripling of the non-school homestead exemption by 2028 would reduce the dollars flowing to the county’s general fund unless lawmakers backfill the gap or local governments raise other fees.
Divided Republicans, united opposition from public-safety groups
The amendment split Florida’s Republican Party. Gov. Ron DeSantis had pushed for property tax relief for more than a year, and the GOP campaigned heavily for a “yes” vote. But Senate President Ben Albritton, a Republican representing this region, announced during early voting that he would vote against the measure. The Florida Sheriffs Association and police and firefighter unions, traditionally allied with Republicans, also opposed it.
Jackson Peel, a spokesperson for Save Our Services, the political committee that campaigned against Amendment 3, told WUFT News that cutting government revenue at this scale will not simply shrink government, it will force local governments to cut services, raise other taxes such as food and beverage levies, or both. “That’s gonna gut the local services that we all rely on every day,” Peel said, citing police, fire, ambulance service, disaster preparedness and programs for children and seniors.
Tim Marden, chair of the Alachua County Republican Party, argued the opposite: that lower taxes directly benefit Floridians and that opposition to a tax cut amounts to a strange political stance.
What happens next
The amendment takes effect on the schedule laid out in its text, the $150,000 exemption level in 2027 and the $250,000 level in 2028, with no indication in available reporting of a phase-in adjustment specific to Levy County or any other single jurisdiction. Local budget decisions, including how the Levy County Commission and Cedar Key’s city government plan to absorb reduced non-homestead assessment growth, will play out in upcoming budget cycles. This publication will track how county and city officials respond as revenue projections are updated.