Amendment 3 Looks Like a Homestead Tax Cut. In Palm Beach Gardens, the Math Lands on Who Bought When.

Under Florida's Amendment 3, two Palm Beach Gardens homes on the same street with the same value could get very different property tax bills in 2028. The difference would come from two facts about the owner: whether the home is homesteaded, and whether the owner was a Florida resident on December 31, 2026. Voters decide on November 3. For anyone planning a purchase in the Gardens over the next year or two, that residency date may matter more than any other date in the measure.

The official ballot summary puts it in one sentence. People who are not Florida residents on December 31, 2026 "will receive the existing homestead exemption upon qualifying for a homestead exemption, with the increased homestead exemption beginning with the fifth year of exemption, to the extent permitted by the U.S. Constitution," according to the Florida Division of Elections. Most coverage focuses on the larger exemption. That clause decides who gets it right away.

The Calendar Built Into the Ballot Language

Amendment 3 needs at least 60% of the vote to pass. If it does, it takes effect January 1, 2027. The ballot summary then sets out this sequence:

1. November 3, 2026. Election day.
2. December 31, 2026. The residency cutoff. Anyone who is not a Florida resident on this date goes into the five-year track.
3. 2027. The homestead exemption on non-school taxes rises to $150,000.
4. 2028. It rises to $250,000, then adjusts for inflation each year after that.
5. The fifth year of exemption. This is when owners on the new-resident track first get the larger exemption.

Until then, those owners get the existing exemption. Florida TaxWatch puts today's non-school exemption at $51,411. For people who become Florida residents on or after January 1, 2027, the Pinellas County Property Appraiser's FAQ describes the starting amount as $50,000, adjusted annually by CPI beginning in 2028. School taxes are not part of the increase at all.

This mostly affects the second-home and seasonal buyers who make up much of the Gardens market. Take an out-of-state owner who closes on a Gardens home in 2027 and files for homestead. For four years, they would pay non-school taxes on everything above roughly $50,000 of assessed value. A neighbor who was already a resident would pay on everything above $250,000 starting in 2028. The same FAQ gives the timing this way: after four years with a Florida homestead exemption, the owner becomes eligible for the larger exemption starting January 1 of the fifth year.

The wording leaves one question open. The Florida Policy Institute notes that the resolution "does not explain what it means to 'establish Florida residency'" for people who don't own property. The group argues that, as written, someone who rents in Florida today may not qualify for the new benefit unless they buy before the end of 2026. That is one group's reading of the text. How it works in practice would depend on how the state carries it out.

What the City's Own Spreadsheet Shows

The residency rule decides who gets the larger exemption. Palm Beach Gardens' budget decides what that exemption costs everyone else. The city's FY2027 budget workshop presentation, dated August 27, 2026, makes the most detailed local estimate published so far. Property taxes provide 70% of the city's General Fund revenue, about $114 million a year.

Staff modeled two scenarios:

The second row is not on the ballot. Amendment 3 directs the Legislature to create a procedure for cities and counties to raise their exemption as high as full assessed value. The city modeled that as a possible future step. A separate proposal to eliminate non-school homestead taxes outright, HJR 203, passed the House in the regular session but died when the Senate did not take it up. The presentation also points out that 9.0251 mills would put the city within 0.9749 mills of Florida's 10-mill constitutional cap.

The Palm Beach Post reported on September 30 that the city's finance administrator described the $24 million as about 23% of current city property-tax revenue. The Post did not say which revenue base that figure uses, and it is higher than the roughly 21% you get by dividing $24 million by the presentation's $114 million. The Post also reported that police and fire make up about $101 million, or 57%, of the General Fund budget. The city said a revenue loss could lead City Council to review services, fees, other revenue sources or millage rates. The amendment lists public safety as an allowed use of property taxes. It does not set a minimum funding level. The city's slide on this point is titled "Allowed Is Not the Same as Protected."

None of this affects the coming year's bill. Gardens finance staff told the workshop that the FY2027 budget is unchanged because the amendment still needs voter approval and would not alter the upcoming property-tax calculation.

Where 7,048 Homes Go, and Who Is Left Paying

One figure in the presentation explains the city's concern. Palm Beach Gardens has 18,708 homesteaded residences, and 7,048 of them are assessed under $250,000. Once a $250,000 exemption applies, those homes would owe little or no city property tax. The Palm Beach North Chamber of Commerce summarized the city's numbers this way: about 40% of homesteaded residences could come off the city's tax roll entirely.

An assessed value under $250,000 does not mean a modest home. Amendment 3 leaves Save Our Homes in place, so homestead assessments still can't grow faster than 3% a year or the rate of inflation, whichever is lower. Years of capped growth can leave a long-held home with an assessed value far below its sale price. That is how so many Gardens homesteads fall under the threshold.

The rest of the roll carries the difference. The city counts 14,450 non-homesteaded parcels, or 44% of the total. In the August workshop, staff described that group as including "many commercial properties, rental properties and second homes." Florida TaxWatch puts the general principle plainly: exemptions and caps that benefit only some properties "are not really tax cuts as much as tax shifts."

Put that next to the residency clause and a pattern appears. A seasonal owner who keeps a Gardens condo as a second home is in the non-homestead group. If that owner makes it their Florida residence after 2026, they move to the existing exemption for four years. Either way, they are in the group that would absorb any millage increase a city or county adopts to make up lost revenue.

The 5% Cap Is a Brake, Not a Shield

The amendment does give non-homestead owners something. The annual cap on assessment increases for non-homestead property drops from 10% to 5%. The lower cap applies to non-school taxes. School taxes on non-homestead property are not capped.

The cap limits how fast assessed value can rise. It does nothing to millage. The Florida Policy Institute notes that the measure "does not keep property tax rates or millages from increasing." Florida TaxWatch reaches a similar conclusion: the lower cap "may help to slightly mitigate the tax shift to non-homestead properties," but it will not lower property taxes for those owners.

Here is the arithmetic for a Gardens rental or second home. Its assessed value would grow more slowly than it does today. If the city followed its own model and raised millage 29% to hold revenue steady, the rate applied to that value would rise. The net effect would depend on each property's assessment history and on decisions the City Council has not made.

What Remains Unsettled Before November 3

The ballot language has already been revised once. In August, a Leon County circuit judge found the original title, "Save our Homes from Excessive Property Taxes," and parts of the summary defective and ordered them rewritten, Florida Phoenix reported. The court said the measure itself could not be removed from the ballot under that procedure. According to Florida Politics, the state did not appeal and submitted new wording. WPTV's October 7 town hall coverage still listed the amendment on the November 3 ballot.

Outside the city, the Palm Beach County Property Appraiser estimated in June that unincorporated county government could lose $324 million a year. Separate estimated losses were $148 million for county fire-rescue and $47 million for the library district, the Palm Beach Post reported. A Gardens property bill includes several taxing authorities besides the city. Each would make its own decisions after the vote.

Owners who want an address-level estimate can use the Property Appraiser's Amendment 3 Homestead Calculator. WPBF reported that the tool gives 2027 and 2028 estimates for homesteaded properties. WPTV reported that it also flags properties without a homestead exemption as not eligible for the proposed benefit.

A Few Common Questions

If Amendment 3 passes, does my 2026 tax bill change? No. The amendment takes effect January 1, 2027, and Palm Beach Gardens staff said the FY2027 city budget is not affected.

Does a second home in the Gardens get any benefit? It would not get the larger homestead exemption. It would fall under the lower 5% annual cap on assessment increases for non-school taxes.

Does the amendment change Save Our Homes? No. Homestead assessment growth stays capped at 3% or the rate of inflation, whichever is lower.

This post describes the measure as it stands on October 12, 2026, before the vote. It will be updated once results are certified.

Whether a purchase closes before or after December 31, 2026, and whether the home will be homesteaded or kept as a second home, now affect the cost of owning in Palm Beach Gardens. Brad Westover has worked on Florida property-tax issues throughout his career and can walk you through how the assessment history and homestead status of a specific Gardens property fit the scenarios above. Request your personalized home valuation to see where your property stands before November 3.

This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.