62% Vote for Amendment 3 Sets Stage for Special Session

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Wednesday that he will convene a special legislative session within the next two months. The move aims to install the property tax cut that voters approved in Tuesday’s election.

Amendment 3 won 62 percent of the vote. That result exceeded the 60 percent threshold required for the measure to become law. The amendment raises the homestead property tax exemption from $50,000 to $150,000 in 2027. It will increase again to $250,000 in 2028.

DeSantis said he would coordinate with the Legislature on specific dates. The session must conclude before his second term ends in early January. He stated the session will set the schedule for the new exemptions and limit local governments from taxing homeowners in other ways.

“What it’ll do is it’ll set the schedule for further homestead exemption, because we want people to get that,” DeSantis said at a press conference in the state Capitol. “But also limiting local governments from just doing an end run around the amendment and taxing them in other ways.”

The governor also hinted at changes to the Florida Education Finance Program. This is the state funding formula for K-12 public schools. The Legislature originally excluded school districts from the larger exemption when it placed the measure on the ballot last summer. DeSantis suggested lawmakers might rewrite the funding formula next year when he is out of office.

Governor-elect Byron Donalds previously told the News Service of Florida that he plans to alter how the FEFP funds schools. He wants to give districts more flexibility on spending. “Let the districts figure out how they’re going to pay their teachers, let the districts figure out what programming they’re going to put forward,” Donalds said.

DeSantis credited the popularity of Amendment 3 for driving Republican turnout. He noted that the vote helped keep the state Cabinet under GOP control. “Had Amendment 3 not been on the ballot, I don’t know that we’d turn out the voters that we ended up turning out,” DeSantis said. “People wanted to vote yes on that, and then many of them ended up voting Republican later on down the ballot.”