‘This is a reset.’
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Floridians should ignore “fear tactics” around a proposed constitutional amendment this year that would significantly reduce homestead property taxes, because most of them are “lies,” according to several Republican officials in Miami-Dade County.
“We’re here today to set the record straight,” said Miami-Dade Property Appraiser Tomás Regalado, a former Miami Mayor who emceed a press conference at Versailles Restaurant to urge voters to support Amendment 3.
Joining him were Hialeah Rep. Alex Rizo, Miami-Dade Tax Collector Dariel Fernandez, Supervisor of Elections Alina Garcia, Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago, North Miami Beach Commissioner Fortuna Smukler, Miami River Commission Chair Horacio Aguierre and Fabio Andrade, who sits on the Weston Commission in Broward County.
Regalado told media members and attendees Monday that his office had been “running the numbers” on what Amendment 3’s impact would be on residents. For homesteaded households — of which there are 446,000 in Miami-Dade alone — whose property taxes are about $6,000 now, it would drop to roughly $4,300 the first year after the proposal passes and $3,000 the year after — a 50% reduction.
Despite that change, county and municipal services, particularly those concerning public safety and schools, wouldn’t be hurt, provided local governments learn to “live within (their) means,” Garcia said.
“There have been many lies said (about Amendment 3),” she said. “Property taxes are super important, and also business taxes for people that have small businesses. There’s a little of it for everybody in this bill, and very important, it says that public safety always comes first. So, this will not be affected, public safety. It will not.”
Republicans pushed through legislation to place Amendment 3 on the ballot during a Special Session in June, rejecting 12 amendments to the measure proffered by Democrats, who voted overwhelmingly against the measure.
If approved, Amendment 3 would raise the homestead exemption for non-school taxes from about $51,000 to $150,000 in 2027 and $250,000 in 2028, then adjust it annually for inflation beginning in 2029. It would also lower the annual assessment-growth cap on non-homestead property for non-school taxes from 10% to 5%.
People who maintained a permanent residence in Florida by Dec. 31, 2026, would qualify immediately for the increased exemption. Later arrivals would generally receive the existing exemption for four years and qualify for the larger exemption beginning in their fifth year. Starting in 2030, a county or municipality could shorten that waiting period by a two-thirds vote based on a “critical local need.”
The Revenue Estimating Conference projects the measure would reduce local non-school property tax collections by $11.86 billion a year once fully phased in. It includes no replacement revenue.
The measure needs 60% approval Nov. 3, and polling has consistently shown that the more voters learn about it, the less they like it.
Hialeah Rep. Alex Rizo (left) and North Miami Beach Commissioner Fortuna Smukler (right) look on during a Sept. 28, 2026, press conference at Versailles Restaurant as Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago speaks, pointing to his city as an example of local governments doing more and better with less. Image via Jesse Scheckner.
A major talking point for proponents of the measure is that people who have bought their houses, particularly senior citizens on fixed incomes, shouldn’t be at risk of losing their homes because they can’t pay increasingly exorbitant property taxes.
Many homeowners are desperate for a cost-of-living reduction like what Amendment 3 offers, the last of which passed decades ago under the Save Our Homes homestead exemption that voters approved in 1992, said Rizo, who is running in a to-be-called Special Election for Senate.
“Everything in our society gets expensive. Yes, services are more expensive. Yes, local governments, county governments, are asked to put forth more services. We understand,” he said. “However, that price has not stayed relative to what people expect to be able to lower their tax bills, and so that’s what this is. This is a reset.”
And it’s a feasible one, Lago said, noting that despite being a full-service city with its own police, fire and solid waste departments, Coral Gables has the second-lowest millage rate of Miami-Dade’s 34 municipalities while also having more than $70 million in reserves and an 80% funded pension program.
“Think about the individuals that raised us — my grandparents, your grandparents, those individuals that are retired, that paid decades of taxes, that laid the foundation,” he said. “Please don’t fall into the fear tactics.”
The press conference comes just days after Miami-Dade Sheriff Rosie Cordero-Stutz issued a statement supporting Amendment 3, saying that voters “should not be led to believe that saving money on their property taxes means fewer deputies or weaker public safety.”
“Tax relief and public safety are not competing priorities,” she added.
It also comes three days after Black leaders in South Florida — including Miami Gardens Sen. Shevrin Jones and Miami-Dade Commissioner Oliver Gilbert — held a press conference to urge voters to reject the measure, which the Florida Policy Institute found would lead to significant shortfalls in public healthcare services and children’s services.
Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava’s administration expects Amendment 3 would shrink the county’s property tax revenues by a fifth, by which time a Florida Association of Counties analysis found the county would suffer a $445 million hit.
Over the past year and a half, CFO Blaise Ingoglia has traveled the state to highlight what his Office characterizes as fiduciary irresponsibility by Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties, among many others, and numerous municipalities — sometimes using news conferences to stump for Amendment 3.
Part of the uncertainty is due to a lack of thorough examination by the state. Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed a $1 million earmark that would have funded a study of property tax cuts, saying, “We know what needs to be done, so let’s just do it.”
Rizo acknowledged that Amendment 3 is “not perfect,” but said it’s a step in the right direction.
“This is not one-and-done,” he said. “We are going to be dealing with this issue of property tax for the foreseeable future. And again, with our partners — with our municipal partners, our counties, our cities — we, myself included, will commit to this because it’s the right thing to do.”
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