What Florida’s Amendment 3 Means If You Buy a Pinellas Beach Home in 2026 or 2027
Florida voters approved Amendment 3 on November 3, 2026, and for a buyer of a Pinellas beach home what changes depends on one question: will the home be your permanent Florida residence, or a second home or rental? A homesteaded home gets a much larger exemption from non-school property taxes from January 1, 2027; a second home or rental gets a lower cap on how fast its assessed value can rise. Team BeachSide’s list of the dates that matter, taken from the Pinellas County Property Appraiser’s Amendment 3 page, is below.
What passed
Amendment 3, „Increased Homestead Exemption; Lower Cap on Increases in Non-Homestead Property Assessments,“ passed with about 62 percent of the vote; it needed 60 percent, and the result is unofficial until the state certifies it. The Pinellas County Property Appraiser says it takes effect January 1, 2027 and first appears on the August 2027 TRIM notices and the November 2027 tax bills. The office takes no position on the amendment.
If the beach home will be your permanent residence
Today the homestead exemption in Pinellas County totals $51,411 of assessed value: $25,000 that applies to all taxes and $26,411 that does not apply to school taxes. Under Amendment 3, the exemption from non-school taxes rises to up to $150,000 on January 1, 2027 and up to $250,000 on January 1, 2028, with annual CPI adjustments from 2029. School taxes are not included: only the first $25,000 of assessed value stays exempt from school taxes.
The Property Appraiser’s own estimate, using the 2025 countywide average non-school rate of 12.2011 mills and assuming the full exemption with no rate changes, is about $1,203 of savings in 2027 and about $2,423 in 2028. Non-ad valorem assessments are not included and savings vary by city and by home, so run your own address through the Property Appraiser’s Tax Estimator.
The dates that matter for a buyer
- December 31, 2026. The $150,000 exemption in 2027 is for owners who are permanent Florida residents as of December 31, 2026. People who establish Florida residency on or after January 1, 2027 start at a $50,000 non-school exemption (CPI-adjusted from 2028) and receive the larger exemption from January 1 of their fifth year of homestead exemption.
- January 1, 2027. To claim homestead for 2027 you must own the home and be making it your permanent home on January 1. A home bought later in 2027 can first be homesteaded for 2028.
- March 1, 2027. The filing deadline for a 2027 homestead exemption. It is not automatic, even if you had one on a previous Florida home; the Property Appraiser urges buyers to file as soon as they own and occupy the home, online or in person.
If the beach home is a second home or a rental
Second homes and rentals do not qualify for a homestead exemption, so the larger exemption does not apply to them. What changes is the cap on assessment increases: Amendment 3 lowers the non-homestead cap from 10 percent to 5 percent a year on non-school assessed value, while school taxes stay uncapped at market value. The Property Appraiser notes this limits how fast assessed value grows, not the tax rate, so a bill will not necessarily go down.
What does not change
Save Our Homes stays in place: once a home is homesteaded, its assessed value can rise no more than 3 percent a year or CPI, whichever is less, starting the second year, and portability is unchanged. The assessed value of any home you buy still resets to full market value in the year after the purchase, so the seller’s current tax bill is not a guide to yours. The Legislature may raise the exemption further by general law; the Property Appraiser says when and by how much cannot be determined today.
So is now the time to buy?
Amendment 3 sets dates, not prices, and we do not predict prices. What it does is make the end of 2026 matter for one group: a buyer who will make the beach home a permanent Florida residence and is not yet a Florida resident. Residency by December 31, 2026, owning and living in the home on January 1, 2027, and filing by March 1, 2027 are the conditions on the Property Appraiser’s page for the full 2027 exemption. For a second-home or rental buyer the change is the 5 percent cap, which resets in the year after any change of ownership. Local governments will set 2027 rates knowing the exemption is larger, so the effect on any one bill is not known yet. This is general information, not tax advice; confirm your situation with the Property Appraiser or a tax professional.
Team BeachSide is John and Nicole, licensed Florida Realtors with LoKation Real Estate. Our guide to property taxes after buying a Pinellas home covers the 2027 rates, the assessed value reset and the Tax Estimator; the Team BeachSide homepage links our town and condo guides.
Häufig gestellte Fragen
Does Amendment 3 apply to a second home or rental condo on the Pinellas beaches?
Not the exemption. Only a permanent Florida residence qualifies for homestead. A second home or rental gets the other change: the cap on annual increases in non-school assessed value drops from 10 percent to 5 percent from January 1, 2027.
When will the larger homestead exemption first show on a tax bill?
On the November 2027 tax bills, after the August 2027 TRIM notices, according to the Pinellas County Property Appraiser.
If I move to Florida in 2027, do I get the $150,000 exemption?
Not at first. The Property Appraiser’s page says people who establish Florida residency on or after January 1, 2027 start at $50,000 (CPI-adjusted from 2028) and receive the larger exemption from January 1 of their fifth year of homestead exemption.
Buying on the beaches before the end of the year? Get Team BeachSide’s free condo buyer checklist, or, if you are selling first, request a free home valuation. Call (727) 955-1222.
