The exemption goes to permanent Florida residents. Seasonal owners get a slower assessment cap instead, and only on part of the bill.
Credit: Homeowner.ca
Florida voters decide Amendment 3 on November 3, 2026. The measure would raise the state's homestead exemption for non-school property taxes from roughly US$50,000 to US$150,000 in 2027 and US$250,000 in 2028, and Florida TaxWatch estimates that a homesteader paying the statewide average non-school rate would save US$1,035 in the first year and US$2,085 in the second.
Canadians who own a Florida condo or winter home should read that number carefully. It belongs to someone else. The exemption is reserved for a permanent Florida resident's primary dwelling, so second homes, rentals and commercial property are left out. The amendment does not raise a seasonal owner's bill by itself. It hands the full-time neighbour a break the seasonal owner cannot claim, and the gap widens as the exemption steps up.
One provision does reach Canadian owners: a lower ceiling on how fast a non-homestead assessment can climb. This article separates the two mechanisms, shows which part of a Florida tax bill each one touches, and flags what remains uncertain until the votes are counted. It is general information, not tax, legal or residency advice.
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The measure reached the ballot through the Legislature, not a citizen petition. Lawmakers approved House Joint Resolution 1-F on June 2, 2026, with the House voting 75 to 26 and the Senate 30 to 9, according to the Orange Observer's report on the vote.
The wording voters will see is not the wording lawmakers wrote. In August, a Leon County circuit judge found the original ballot language "clearly and conclusively defective," and the state's attorney general filed a revised title and summary, WJHG reported. The title now reads "Increased Homestead Exemption; Lower Cap on Increases in Non-Homestead Property Assessments." Both halves of that title matter to a Canadian owner, and they point in different directions.
Passage is not assured. As a constitutional amendment, the measure needs 60 per cent approval, and if it clears that bar it takes effect January 1, 2027. A Sachs Media survey of 800 Florida voters taken August 18 put support at 63 per cent, as reported by The Capitolist. That is one poll, and three points is a thin margin.
The headline number is an estimate with stated conditions. Florida TaxWatch applies a statewide average non-school tax rate of US$10.50 per US$1,000 of taxable value and concludes that homes assessed above US$250,000 would save US$1,035 in 2027 and US$2,085 in 2028, a method set out in its Property Tax Resource Center. Three conditions are built in: the owner is a homesteader, the home is assessed above the full exemption, and the local rate matches the state average. Change any one and the saving changes.
The arithmetic is easy to reproduce. "Roughly US$50,000" is, for the 2026 tax year, exactly US$51,411: a US$25,000 exemption that applies to every levy, plus a second, inflation-indexed portion of US$26,411 that applies to non-school levies only, according to the Florida Department of Revenue's adjustment table. Raising the non-school exemption from US$51,411 to US$150,000 removes US$98,589 of taxable value. At US$10.50 per US$1,000, that is about US$1,035. Raising it to US$250,000 removes US$198,589, or about US$2,085. Our reconstruction matches the published estimate to the dollar.
School taxes sit outside all of this. Florida TaxWatch puts them at approximately 40 per cent of the average bill, and county property appraisers note that only the first US$25,000 of a homestead's assessed value would remain exempt from school levies, as it is today. The larger exemption works on the other 60 per cent.
The table describes the proposal as county appraisers and Florida TaxWatch have summarized it. Every row from 2027 onward is conditional on the vote and on implementing legislation.
The headline number is an estimate with stated conditions. Florida TaxWatch applies a statewide average non-school tax rate of US$10.50 per US$1,000 of taxable value and concludes that homes assessed above US$250,000 would save US$1,035 in 2027 and US$2,085 in 2028, a method set out in its Property Tax Resource Center. Three conditions are built in: the owner is a homesteader, the home is assessed above the full exemption, and the local rate matches the state average. Change any one and the saving changes.
The arithmetic is easy to reproduce. "Roughly US$50,000" is, for the 2026 tax year, exactly US$51,411: a US$25,000 exemption that applies to every levy, plus a second, inflation-indexed portion of US$26,411 that applies to non-school levies only, according to the Florida Department of Revenue's adjustment table. Raising the non-school exemption from US$51,411 to US$150,000 removes US$98,589 of taxable value. At US$10.50 per US$1,000, that is about US$1,035. Raising it to US$250,000 removes US$198,589, or about US$2,085. Our reconstruction matches the published estimate to the dollar.
School taxes sit outside all of this. Florida TaxWatch puts them at approximately 40 per cent of the average bill, and county property appraisers note that only the first US$25,000 of a homestead's assessed value would remain exempt from school levies, as it is today. The larger exemption works on the other 60 per cent.
The table describes the proposal as county appraisers and Florida TaxWatch have summarized it. Every row from 2027 onward is conditional on the vote and on implementing legislation.
Eligibility turns on residence, not nationality. The homestead exemption applies when someone owns a property and makes it their permanent residence, or the permanent residence of a dependent, as of January 1 of the tax year, according to the Florida Department of Revenue's homestead guide. Appraisers can ask for evidence: a Florida driver's licence, voter registration, a vehicle plate, utility receipts, the address on a U.S. tax return. The exemption ends if the home is rented or stops being the owner's permanent home.
A condo used for four months each winter by someone whose permanent home is in Ontario or Quebec does not meet that test. Ownership is not the issue. Use is.
Amendment 3 adds a second filter based on timing. Permanent Florida residents as of December 31, 2026, would qualify for the larger amounts beginning in 2027. Anyone establishing Florida residency later would start at US$50,000 and wait until January 1 of the fifth year, after holding a homestead exemption for four years, to reach the full figure. That is a waiting period, not a gradual phase-in.
Governor Ron DeSantis described the design plainly in a May 2026 television appearance, saying the state was "focusing on homestead" and listing non-homestead property as including "Residential, Airbnb, Canadian snowbirds, commercial," a remark quoted by Yahoo Finance Canada. The same report cites a 2023 statement from Canada's former consul general in Miami estimating that Canadians own US$60 billion of Florida property and pay more than US$600 million a year in Florida property taxes. Those figures are three years old and should be read as scale, not as a current measurement.
For readers weighing Florida costs against rising bills at home, our look at what is driving Canadian property taxes in 2026 covers the domestic side.
Florida already limits how quickly the assessed value of a non-homestead property can rise: no more than 10 per cent a year. Amendment 3 would cut that limit to 5 per cent. A second home, a rental and vacant land all fall into the non-homestead category, which appraisers define as any property that does not receive a homestead exemption.
There is a catch that is easy to miss. The cap covers non-school taxes only. In the words of the Seminole County Property Appraiser, school taxes "would still continue to be uncapped and based on Just/Market Value." A seasonal owner's property therefore carries two assessed values: a capped one for county, city and special-district levies, and an uncapped one for the school board.
A hypothetical shows the size of the benefit. Take a condo with a non-school assessed value of US$400,000 in a year when its market value rises 12 per cent. Under the current rule the non-school assessment can climb to US$440,000. Under a 5 per cent cap it stops at US$420,000. At the statewide average non-school rate, that US$20,000 difference is worth about US$210 in the first year. The school-tax assessment follows the market to US$448,000 either way. In a year when values rise less than 5 per cent, the lower cap changes nothing.
A cap is a ceiling on growth. It is not a cut. Asked whether a lower assessment limitation means lower taxes, the Pinellas County Property Appraiser's Amendment 3 guidance answers "Not necessarily," explaining that the limitation "affects assessed value increases, not tax rates" and that future bills still depend on the millage rates local taxing authorities set each year.
Millage is the variable nobody is voting on. Florida TaxWatch reports that state economists expect Amendment 3 to reduce local property tax revenue by nearly US$12 billion on a recurring basis. How counties, cities and special districts respond through their annual rate-setting will shape what non-homestead owners actually pay, and that will not be known on November 3.
The gap between a homesteader and a seasonal owner shows up only in the non-school portion of the bill. Finding that portion takes a few minutes with the notice of proposed property taxes, known as the TRIM notice, that Florida counties mail each year. According to the Pinellas County TRIM Guide, the notice can show different taxable values for different authorities because certain exemptions and caps apply only to specific levies. Layouts vary by county, but four items are worth locating:
Divide the non-school total by the full bill. If the result is near 60 per cent, your property resembles the statewide average. If it is well above or below, the published estimates will fit your situation less closely. Appraisers indicate that approved changes would first appear on November 2027 tax bills.
Owners heading south for the season may also want our winterizing checklist for snowbirds for the home left behind.
Some owners will look at a widening gap and reconsider the property. That decision is beyond the scope of a ballot story, but two cross-border rules are worth knowing before a listing rather than after one.
The first is American. Under the Foreign Investment in Real Property Tax Act, known as FIRPTA, the buyer is generally required to withhold 15 per cent of the amount realized, which usually means the sale price and not the profit, according to the Internal Revenue Service. On a US$400,000 sale, that is US$60,000 held back at closing. Either party can apply for a withholding certificate to reduce or eliminate the amount, and the agency says it normally acts within 90 days of receiving a complete application, which is why timing matters. Residence-related exceptions also exist, including one for sales of US$300,000 or less where the buyer intends to live in the home.
The second is Canadian. Residents of Canada calculate a capital gain in Canadian dollars, converting the sale proceeds at the exchange rate in effect at the time of sale and the purchase cost at the rate in effect when the property was acquired, as the Canada Revenue Agency explains. Currency alone can create a gain. Consider, with hypothetical rates, a condo bought for US$300,000 when a U.S. dollar cost C$1.05 and sold for the same US$300,000 when it costs C$1.38. The U.S. gain is zero. The Canadian gain is C$99,000.
Both rules have exceptions and both depend on individual facts. A cross-border tax professional should be part of the conversation before an offer is accepted. For the domestic picture, see our guide to what Canadian homeowners can and cannot write off.
The structure of the proposal is settled. A larger non-school exemption for permanent residents. A tighter non-school assessment cap for everyone else. No change to school taxes. A residency date of December 31, 2026.
Everything after that is conditional. The measure must reach 60 per cent. Implementing legislation must follow. Local governments must set rates against a smaller tax base. For a Canadian seasonal owner, the honest summary is narrow: the vote offers no new exemption, a modest brake on one part of the assessment, and no promise about the final bill. The number to watch after November 3 is not US$2,085. It is the millage rate on next year's notice.
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About the Author
Ryan is the founder of Homeowner.ca and a proud Canadian homeowner based in Guelph, Ontario. Over his 25-year career in digital publishing, he has focused on transforming complex information into clear, practical guidance that helps people make confident, well-informed decisions.
