While Republicans grapple with how to handle a proposed amendment to hike homestead exemptions, the Florida Democratic Party (FDP) is officially opposing the measure approved by the Legislature this year.
“Amendment 3 is bad for our cities and towns, bad for our rural counties, and just plain bad for Florida,” FDP Chair Nikki Fried said.
Fried said the proposal to increase homestead exemptions “would hurt our local communities and cut local services while giving huge tax breaks to billionaires and corporations.”
“This is a scam that would either raise other taxes on working families or rob their communities of essential services like public hospitals, EMTs, fire rescue, disaster preparedness, road maintenance, children services, libraries, and parks,” she added.
Democrats, who are currently locked out of all statewide offices, hope to get some momentum this fall by opposing a proposal that new polling from the University of North Florida’s Public Opinion Research Lab says won’t pass if voters know it will strip $11.86 billion from city and county budgets in the coming years.
The survey shows the proposal with just 45% support when voters hear that it will affect local spending plans. And for Democrats looking to appeal to moderate voters from the suburbs who deserted their candidates in droves four years ago, the ballot initiative offers a chance to try to win back support, with arguments against it that can be tailored to virtually all of Florida’s 67 counties.
As we’ve reported previously, commuter counties with less commercial development and more revenue drawn from homestead property taxes would be hit hardest proportionally, according to some estimates.
St. Lucie could face the steepest loss at 35% of its revenue, with Clay, Baker, Citrus and Hernando counties all facing losses of more than 30%.
Flagler, Volusia, Hernando and Sumter counties would each see at least two-thirds of homes potentially affected by the exemption increase.
Larger urban counties would absorb the biggest hit in raw dollars, according to the Florida Association of Counties.
Miami-Dade would see a $445 million revenue decrease as soon as Fiscal Year 2028-29. By the same point, Hillsborough could lose $353 million, Broward roughly $326 million, Duval $277 million, and Orange $253 million.
Even Republicans are casting doubt on the current product as they say they back it.
For example, likely GOP gubernatorial nominee Byron Donalds supports the proposal but sees deficiencies of his own, particularly the lack of a backstop for the state’s 29 fiscally constrained counties. He has also expressed concerns about backdoor taxes and assessments to fill gaps.
Should the amendment pass, homestead exemptions for Floridians who own primary residences by the end of this year would rise to $150,000 in 2027 and $250,000 in 2028, with further increases tied to the consumer price index.
School taxes would not be subject to the increased exemption and would stay at $25,000.
Newer residents would qualify for a $50,000 exemption to start, deriving the full benefit after five years.
The amendment would cap assessment increases on other property at 5% a year.
Local governments would be limited to funding public safety, infrastructure, schools, debt service and pensions. County constitutional officers such as Elections Supervisors, Clerks of Court, Property Appraisers, and County and City Commissions would also be funded.
The homestead exemption would be portable, letting residents move from one primary residence to another without losing it.