If Amendment 3 passes on November 3, two buyers who close on identical Tampa homes the same week in 2027 could get different non-school property tax bills for four straight years. The amendment sets each buyer's starting exemption by whether they had a permanent residence in Florida on December 31, 2026.
The headline numbers are a $150,000 homestead exemption in 2027 and $250,000 in 2028. For a buyer moving to Tampa from another state, the residency cutoff decides whether those numbers apply right away or after a wait. The exemption would vary from buyer to buyer instead of applying the same way to everyone, and a tax estimate built from the seller's bill or a neighbor's would miss that.
The line is drawn at residency, not at closing
Here is the amendment's text, as enrolled by the Legislature in the 2026 special session. It applies to anyone who takes title and makes the home a permanent residence on or after January 1, 2027, if that person:
"had not maintained a permanent residence in this state as of December 31, 2026"
Owners in that group would get a $50,000 non-school exemption. They would move up to the larger amount in "the fifth year of exemption." Everyone else would get up to $150,000 starting January 1, 2027, and up to $250,000 starting January 1, 2028. Beginning in 2029, the $250,000 figure would be adjusted for inflation.
The text ties the test to where the owner lived, not to when they bought. A Floridian who rents in Orlando through 2027 and then buys in Tampa would fall on the larger-exemption side of the line. A buyer relocating from out of state who closes in Seminole Heights in February 2027 would start at $50,000. The Legislature still has to write "uniform procedures" for administering this, and those procedures will decide how residency on December 31, 2026, actually gets documented.
The Hillsborough County Tax Collector describes it from the homeowner's side. Owners who already have a homestead exemption on file would get the larger exemption automatically. First-time applicants would file through the Property Appraiser the same way they do today, and "a waiting period may apply based on when your Florida residency began."
What the gap is worth on a Tampa homestead
Florida taxes are a rate times taxable value, so the gap between the two groups can be put in dollars using rates Tampa and Hillsborough adopted in September.
At its September 22 budget hearing, the City of Tampa adopted a citywide rate of 6.2076 mills for FY2027, which works out to $6.2076 per $1,000 of taxable value. Hillsborough County's final millage resolution from September 24 sets countywide general revenue at 5.3608 mills, the ELAPP debt-service levy at 0.0604 mills, the Unincorporated Area MSTU at 4.7163 mills and Library Services at 0.5583 mills. Library Services is levied both inside Tampa and in unincorporated Hillsborough.
Inside city limits, those four levies add up to about 12.19 mills. In unincorporated Hillsborough, where the MSTU applies instead of the city rate, the four county levies come to about 10.70 mills. The table below applies those totals to the exemption gap between the two groups:
| Tax year | Exemption, Florida resident by 12/31/2026 | Exemption, arrived after | Gap in exempt value | Gap on four levies, City of Tampa | Gap on four levies, unincorporated Hillsborough |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2027 | $150,000 | $50,000 | $100,000 | about $1,219 | about $1,070 |
| 2028, before inflation adjustment | $250,000 | $50,000 | $200,000 | about $2,437 | about $2,139 |
These figures are partial, and they come with three conditions. First, they cover only the levies listed above. A Tampa tax bill includes other non-school levies we haven't pulled, so the full gap would be larger. Second, they assume the home's assessed value is higher than the exemption, since an exemption can't take a home's value below zero. Third, they hold today's rates constant, and those rates are likely to change if the amendment passes. The $50,000 figure also gets an inflation adjustment starting in 2028, so the 2028 row shows the gap before that adjustment, which would narrow it a little.
Even with those conditions, the scale is clear. For a city homestead, the four-year waiting period on these levies alone could come to several thousand dollars. That amount would show up in the escrow line of a monthly payment, not in the price.
The gap stays inside one part of the bill
The amendment changes one category of tax, and the rest of the bill stays where it is today. Three pieces stay put:
- School taxes. Both groups keep the existing school exemption of up to $25,000, and the Tax Collector states that school taxes are unaffected.
- The assessment reset. Under current law, the Hillsborough County Property Appraiser explains that a sale ends the seller's Save Our Homes benefit. The home is reassessed at just value on the following January 1, and the buyer has to apply for their own exemption. After that first year, assessed-value increases on a homestead are capped at 3% or the change in CPI, whichever is lower. The Tax Collector confirms that both the cap and portability would stay the same under Amendment 3. Portability lets an existing Florida homesteader carry some or all of their Save Our Homes difference to a new homestead, within the timeline the Florida Department of Revenue describes.
- Non-ad valorem charges. Solid waste, stormwater and CDD assessments fall outside the amendment, according to the Tax Collector.
Put the first two together and a relocating buyer's starting point looks like this. The seller's Save Our Homes savings disappear at the sale under both current law and the amendment. On top of that, the amendment would hold the new owner to the smaller exemption for four years. A seller's current bill would understate the buyer's bill for two separate reasons.
The third item matters most in newer communities. Where a CDD assessment makes up a large share of the bill, a bigger homestead exemption reduces a smaller share of the total, so the gap between the two groups is a smaller slice of what the owner pays each year.
Non-homestead property follows a separate rule. The cap on annual growth in assessed value for second homes, rentals, vacant land and commercial property would drop from 10% to 5%.
Where the lost revenue might show up instead
This connects back to the two buyers, because the way local governments respond would change how wide their gap really is.
A Hillsborough County Management and Budget report presented June 17 estimated that the county would lose about $367 million a year in ad valorem revenue once the $250,000 exemption takes effect, roughly 23% of FY2026 revenues. The county's report listed possible responses including hiring freezes, service reductions, fees and taxes. It also noted that no category of spending, Sheriff and Fire included, is protected from funding impacts. According to the Tampa Bay Beacon, state economists projected that the City of Tampa could lose $128.5 million in property tax revenue in fiscal 2032.
At the city level, the Tampa Bay Times reported that Mayor Jane Castor warned passage could mean service cuts or new fees. She estimated an immediate $43 million hit to the general fund. Chief Financial Officer Dennis Rogero called the FY2027 budget a sustainment plan and told council the revenue effects would begin in FY2028 and grow from there. Hillsborough County Commissioner Joshua Wostal publicly urged a yes vote and disputed Castor's warning, the same Times story reported.
Fees are where this matters for the two buyers. At a September debate in Largo covered by the Tampa Bay Times, former state Sen. Jeff Brandes argued the measure could push costs into local fees. Rep. Berny Jacques said local officials could choose cuts other than police and fire. A fee doesn't depend on exemptions, so both groups would pay it in full. If local governments shift costs onto fees, the long-time Floridian's advantage on the ad valorem side would partly be offset by charges the newcomer pays too.
What isn't settled yet
All of this depends on the vote. Amendment 3 needs 60% approval. A St. Pete Polls survey of 836 likely voters taken October 5 to 7 found 42% support, 35% opposition and 23% undecided statewide, down from 45% support in mid-September. Among respondents in the Tampa market, support led 40% to 36%. Florida Politics also reported a Mason-Dixon poll taken September 28 through October 1 that showed 55% support. The two polls aren't directly comparable, and both are below the threshold.
The residency provision has its own uncertainty. A judge found the original ballot language misleading, and the Attorney General rewrote it. The new-resident wait now appears on the ballot qualified by "to the extent permitted by the U.S. Constitution," and Brandes, one of the plaintiffs, has said the five-year plan could be unconstitutional, the Times reported in August. Our research turned up no court ruling on that provision as of mid-October. That reflects what we searched, and it doesn't mean the question is closed.
The timing for a current bill is settled. The November 2026 bill covers the 2026 tax year and won't change however the vote goes. The first effects would apply to the 2027 tax year.
Quick answers
Does buying before December 31, 2026, put an out-of-state buyer in the larger-exemption group? The text tests whether the owner "maintained a permanent residence in this state as of December 31, 2026." It doesn't test the closing date. The Legislature hasn't yet written the procedures for showing residency.
Would this change my homestead's assessed value? No. The Save Our Homes cap and the reset after a sale work the same way with or without the amendment, according to the Hillsborough Tax Collector.
How much would this affect a rental or second home? No homestead exemption applies to that kind of property. The change there would be the cap on annual assessment growth dropping from 10% to 5%.
If you're weighing a Tampa purchase around the December 31 line and want the tax side of your monthly payment estimated by your residency timeline instead of the seller's bill, the Julia Wright Team can work through those numbers with you, and walk through the Property Appraiser filing steps once the November 3 result is in. Schedule a Consultation.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
