Amendment 3 is all over Florida news this week, and most of what's being said about it is aimed at people who live in their homes. That makes sense. The amendment was written for them. But a lot of Tampa Bay owners hold a second property, rent out a former residence or Airbnb the house they live in part of the year, and for them the answer is different.
The Legislature passed the measure as HJR 1F in a June special session. In August, a Tallahassee judge ruled the original ballot language misleading and ordered it rewritten. The title on your ballot now reads “Increased Homestead Exemption; Lower Cap on Increases in Non-Homesteaded Property Assessments.” That second half is the part about you.
What Actually Changes If It Passes
Amendment 3 needs 60% of the vote. If it gets there, most of it starts January 1, 2027:
Homestead exemption
Today: $50,000
Proposed: $150,000 in 2027, $250,000 in 2028
Your rental: Does not apply
School taxes
Today: $25,000 homestead exemption
Proposed: Unchanged
Your rental: Unchanged
Non-homestead cap
Today: 10% a year
Proposed: 5% a year from Jan 1, 2027
Your rental: Applies, non-school taxes only
New Florida residents
Today: Full exemption
Proposed: $50,000 until the fifth year
Your rental: Does not apply
The homestead exemption would be indexed to inflation starting in 2029, and the Legislature would set up a process for local governments to raise it further, up to a home's full assessed value. None of that reaches a property that isn't someone's primary residence.
The short version for rental owners
Your tax rate doesn't change and you get no new exemption. Your assessed value can rise at most 5% a year instead of 10% on the non-school part of the bill. Everything else depends on how your county and city respond.
The 5% Cap, in Real Numbers
Non-homestead property in Florida already has a cap: the assessed value used for non-school taxes can't rise more than 10% a year. Amendment 3 cuts that to 5%. The cap only kicks in when the market rises faster than the cap.
Take a rental assessed at $400,000. If the market rises 8% a year for three years, under today's 10% cap the assessment follows the market to about $504,000. Under a 5% cap it stops at about $463,000. That's roughly $41,000 less taxable value on the non-school side. At an illustrative 13 mills of non-school taxes, that's about $530 a year by year three.
Now compare. A homesteaded neighbor whose exemption goes from $50,000 to $250,000 would save about $2,600 a year at the same 13 mills, starting in 2028. And if the market is flat, as it has mostly been in Tampa Bay since 2025, your cap saves nothing at all. Real, but modest, and only in a rising market.
The Part Nobody Puts on a Yard Sign: The Budget Gap
Legislative staff estimated that local governments statewide would lose about $4.6 billion in fiscal 2027-28 and about $8.4 billion in fiscal 2028-29. Hillsborough County projects a $248.6 million loss after the first increase, 15.7% of its property tax revenue, growing to $366.9 million, or 23.2%, by fiscal 2029. A separate nonprofit analysis put five-year losses through 2032 at $3.43 billion for Hillsborough and $2.31 billion for Pinellas.
Hillsborough's administrator has warned that balancing the 2028 and 2029 budgets could mean reduced services and layoffs, and has flagged new or higher taxes, assessments and fees. Sheriff and Fire Rescue alone use about 79% of the county's general fund property tax revenue, so there isn't much else to cut.
Here's why that matters more to you than to a homesteaded owner. If a city raises its millage rate, a homeowner with a $250,000 exemption feels it on a fraction of their value. You feel it on all of it. If the county adds or raises a fire or stormwater assessment, it's charged per parcel, and no exemption touches it. Related legislation would limit how much local millage can grow, which narrows the rate option and makes fees more likely. Whether any of that happens is a decision for each county and city, not something the amendment requires, but it's the real risk to plan for.
What It Means for Your Situation
You own a vacation home or rental you don't live in
No new exemption. You get the 5% cap on the non-school part of your bill, which only matters in years when your home's value climbs faster than 5%. Tampa Bay values have been flat to soft since 2025, so in the near term the cap probably won't change much. Your bigger exposure is whatever your county and city do to close the budget gap.
You live in the home and rent it out sometimes
This is where Amendment 3 raises the stakes. If it passes, your homestead exemption could be worth $250,000 of assessed value instead of $50,000. Florida law treats renting all or substantially all of a homestead as abandoning it until you move back in, with a narrow exception that can't be used two years in a row. Renting a room while you live there is different. Losing homestead also resets your Save Our Homes cap. Talk to your property appraiser before you list.
You're buying a rental in Tampa Bay
Non-homestead assessments still reset to market value when a property changes hands, so the 5% cap starts working for you from your purchase price forward. It makes long-term carrying costs a little more predictable in a rising market. It doesn't change your first-year tax bill.
You're moving to Florida and keeping a rental
If you set up a new homestead after the amendment takes effect, you'd start with a $50,000 exemption and get the larger one only in your fifth year. One of the lawsuit plaintiffs, former St. Petersburg Sen. Jeff Brandes, has said that part may be unconstitutional, so it could change.
If you're weighing whether to rent out the home you live in, our guide to Airbnb versus a 12-month lease and the sell, rent or Airbnb breakdown cover the revenue side. A bigger homestead exemption makes the tax side of that decision heavier.
Will It Pass?
Nobody knows, and the polls say it's close to the line. A University of North Florida poll released October 21 had 50% yes, 30% no and 14% undecided among likely voters. NBC6 found 55% yes, Stetson 51% and St. Pete Polls 42%. Every recent statewide poll sits below 60%, but enough voters are undecided that it could still get there. If it falls short, nothing on this page changes and your 2027 bill works the way it does today.
What to Do This Week, Whatever Happens
1. Check what your property is actually classified as
Look up your parcel on the Hillsborough, Pinellas or Pasco property appraiser site and confirm whether it carries a homestead exemption. Owners are sometimes surprised in both directions.
2. Read your TRIM notice line by line
Your annual notice shows assessed value, each taxing authority's millage and any non-ad valorem assessments. That's where any post-Amendment 3 changes would show up first, starting with the 2027 notices.
3. Budget for fees, not just millage
When property tax revenue drops, local governments often shift to fire, stormwater, solid waste and similar assessments, which are charged per parcel and are not reduced by any exemption.
4. Sort out homestead before you list
If you live in the home, decide whether you're renting a room, renting the whole house or moving out, and get the appraiser's answer in writing before the first booking.
5. Keep the rest of your taxes clean
Property tax is only one line. Florida sales tax and county tourist development tax apply to every stay, and Hillsborough's registry starts January 1, 2027.
For the taxes you collect from guests, see Florida vacation rental taxes in 2026, and for the new county rules, our Hillsborough ordinance breakdown.
The Honest Version
We're not telling you how to vote. Amendment 3 is a homeowner tax cut, and whether it's a good idea depends on things well beyond rentals. For a vacation rental owner, though, the math is simple: a modest benefit that only shows up in a rising market, and a real chance of higher local fees or rates as counties fill the gap. The owners who come out fine either way are the ones whose properties earn enough to absorb a few hundred dollars of change without noticing.
That's the part we work on. At Emperor Rentals, pricing, occupancy and monthly owner reporting are built to keep your rental comfortably ahead of its carrying costs, taxes included. If you want to know where your property stands, start with a free revenue estimate or talk to us.
Amendment details reflect HJR 1F (2026 Special Session F) and the ballot title rewritten in August 2026. Revenue estimates come from Florida legislative staff and Hillsborough County's September 2026 budget projections. Poll results are from UNF, NBC6, Stetson University and St. Pete Polls, September and October 2026. Homestead rental rules refer to Fla. Stat. § 196.061. The 13-mill figure is illustrative; actual rates vary by city and taxing district. This article is general information, not tax or legal advice. Check with your county property appraiser or a tax professional about your property.
Written by Mark Malevskis — owner of Emperor Rentals, Tampa Bay's White-Glove vacation rental management company. Want a rental that earns well past its tax bill? Let's talk →